


The Other World

by Jade_Tatsu



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Action, Adventure, Angst, Drama, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2012-07-20
Packaged: 2017-11-10 05:39:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 75,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/462794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jade_Tatsu/pseuds/Jade_Tatsu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cloud dreams of another world, and his dreams are tainted by longing. He killed the General, but in other places, other worlds, the General lived and was what he was meant to be.  They meet in dream, they want and Cloud is left to wonder what could have been... Until that world calls to him and he finds himself a stranger in a too familiar land when Sephiroth calls for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> This was something I wrote a very long time ago so I hope it's enjoyable still.
> 
> :: :: Conversation happening in someone's head.

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Prologue - Dreams

Strong arms held him close to the gentle warmth emanating from the other man. Soft green eyes looked down at him, the violence, and the power he knew they contained absent from their mako glow. Instead they contained a burning love and the promise of peace and protection, of an end to his worries in those arms. He rested his head on the muscled chest and listened to the strong heartbeat. He was safe, he was cherished and he cherished the one who held him close, beloved forever...

**_"NO!"_** Cloud bolted awake, a thin sheen of cold sweat covering his body. "A dream..." he whispered, still breathing heavily. "Just a dream," he repeated, fumbling in the darkness for the water he knew he'd left by the bed.

He took a small sip and put the glass back down as he lay back. _Sephiroth's dead,_ he reminded himself. _I killed him myself._ Just for extra reassurance he pictured again in his minds eye Sephiroth's blood flowing, covering those mako green eyes, those mako eyes that looked at him with such tenderness... _**No!** Sephiroth's dead! And even if he wasn't, there is no way, absolutely **no** way that he'd ever look at me like that... Or that I would look at him **.**_

That was perhaps the most disturbing part of the dream. Not so much the way Sephiroth looked at him but the way he felt in return. In the Lifestream he had stopped running from his feelings but he wished he could run from this. _I never loved him... I've never even touched him, except in combat,_ Cloud reminded himself again. _So why am I dreaming that I care, that I love him?..._ The thought would not go away as sleep claimed him again.

~ * ~

_He's back._ The thought was not one that reached the sleeping mind consciously but it was something his whole body responded to. _Why did he run? **Cloud,**_ there was anguish and longing in that word. _Why are you running from me? Do you hate me?_

"What the...?"

_That_ jolted the sleeping mind into awareness, or as much awareness as one could have in a dreamscape. The voice, even confused was not his own but belonged to the one he'd been longing for... The one he'd killed. "Cloud!" he called, opening his eyes and looking around.

He was standing in knee high grass that extended as far as the eye could see, and it was rippling in waves from the wind. The sky above was a clear crisp blue and the sun was a shining white orb about half way through it's decent in the afternoon. But Sephiroth didn't care about any of this. Before him, not two metres away, was Cloud Strife. His face and those eyes - _God, those eyes!_ \- were twisted with equal parts horror and confusion.

Sephiroth blinked once, sadly. _He's probably horrified because I killed him... I had too..._ His consciousness wailed. _I couldn't let him... He was insane... I couldn't let him destroy the world, even if I loved him. It wasn't him. That Cloud died... Long before the body gave up its struggle. I couldn't let him but it hurt... It hurts..._ Sephiroth's thoughts tumbled into each other as he looked into the eyes of the man he loved, the man he killed.

"No," Cloud gasped. "You can't be real," he added, backing away. Sephiroth, the man before him, was just standing there, almost as if he'd been waiting for Cloud to return to sleep. Cloud tried to reach for his sword but it wasn't there and a quick inspection of his surroundings revealed that there was nothing he could improvise with. Even if Sephiroth wasn't armed he was still dangerous and Cloud didn't want to go down without a fight but Sephiroth hadn't said or done anything. He was just standing there, watching.

_His eyes are sane_ , Cloud thought. They were sane, no anger, no hatred but an indescribable sorrow, grief and faintly, ever so faintly hope that this was more than a dream.

Cloud shook his head. "No... You're dead. I killed you." He had to say the words a loud.

Sephiroth started at his voice, his eyes widening. "You killed me?" he questioned frowning before he shook his head. "No, that didn't happen at all. I killed you. I had to, you would have destroyed the world. I didn't want to," Sephiroth added.

" _No!_ " Cloud almost shouted, eyes hardening. "I fought my way through the North Crater and faced you there. And there I ripped your spirit apart. I had to, I _wanted_ to for what you did, and for everything you would have done." Cloud spat the last, controlling his emotions as best he could. He could possibly handle a shouting match but if things got more physical, Sephiroth had the advantage of height and reach.

"General Cloud, I do not know what you are saying," Sephiroth said, suddenly quite formal.

"General Cloud? Don't play with me Sephiroth! I never even got close to that rank. You, _Jenova's Child_ , you were The General, and I, I was simply one of the ranks, one of the insects whose home, whose life meant nothing to you." All the anger, all the hatred, the rage he'd felt at Nibelhelm when he'd taken the Masamune and still thrown him into the Lifestream came back to Cloud and while he had killed Sephiroth, it really hadn't gotten rid of it all. There had been so much left unsaid and this was his chance.

"I'm not playing," Sephiroth seemed hurt. "You were the youngest General in history. A boy from Nibelhelm whose skill with a sword was legendary, who could hold his own against the finest spell casters and whose tactical abilities brought Wutai to their knees. The finest weapon ShinRa had ever created. The ultimate SOLDIER, a human merged with Jenova... And that's why you went insane, why I had to kill you," he finished sadly, looking at the ground, a crystal shimmer in one emerald eye.

Cloud laughed, short and harsh. "You're not even Sephiroth," he came to the only conclusion that made any sense. "Sephiroth would never call anyone else a General," Cloud added. "I don't know who you are but it's a fine story! If you were wearing someone else's skin, I'd enjoy it more though."

"Cloud!" Sephiroth snapped, looking up suddenly, his eyes blazing with mako.

"Better," Cloud murmured. This was a Sephiroth he could deal with, cold and emotionless, not like the one that seemed to care, that held him in his dream.

Sephiroth took a step forward. "Cloud," he repeated, green mako eyes locking with blue. "I'm not making this up. I don't know who you are. You are not the Cloud I killed but you look, your eyes, they are the Cloud I knew, the Cloud I loved. The Cloud who loved me." He took another step forward. "Whether you believe me or not is unimportant. What I have said is the truth I lived, the truth that ripped me apart but before you go I have one more thing to say." Sephiroth closed the distance and with all the grace and speed of a cat he knew he possessed he folded his arms around Cloud and settled the boys head under his chin, enjoying the soft hiss of another’s breath against his skin as he rested his cheek on blond spikes. "I missed you."

" _No!_ " Cloud jerked back and vanished.

Sephiroth blinked before he smiled. This was definitely the Cloud he knew, not the one driven insane by Jenova. His eyes had been angry but right at the end there had been fear. Fear of the love that was offered and fear of the response Sephiroth knew he felt. "You cannot hide from me, Cloud," Sephiroth whispered before he sighed. This was going to take time. Time he wasn't sure he had.

He looked around. The meadow was so peaceful. "I have to go," his expression hardened. "Reeve probably knows where I am by now." There was no one about so he didn't need to speak the words but he had to explain to someone, or something and the meadow was more than a dream now. He closed his eyes and brought himself back to the real world, such as it was.

The camp fire had burnt down while he slept but he didn't feel cold. Mako infusions were good for something after all. Sephiroth rolled his bedroll up before kicking some dirt on the ashes. It didn't really matter if he erased the camp or not. Reeve was looking with magic. _That bastard. I should have ripped **his** throat out._

A year had passed since Cloud had died and Meteor had crashed into Midgar. Cloud hadn't been able to destroy the world but he had gotten at least one of the places that had caused him pain in life. At first, everyone had been happy just to have survived but as time had progressed Reeve had taken more control of the remains of ShinRa, molding it back into the force it had been. And if it was to continue to grow old and perceived threats had to be eliminated.

A new war had started with Wutai and he, the man who had saved the world, who had killed ShinRa's greatest general was obviously the next threat and needed punishment for what he had done and for anything he might be thinking of doing. _As if killing my beloved wasn't punishment enough._ And so he was on the run. Sephiroth had abandoned Avalanche - ShinRa only wanted him. _What do they think I am going to do?_ Sephiroth thought as he mounted his chocobo and clucked for it to begin running. _Destroy them for making Cloud bond with Jenova?_

He had considered it. But it had been Cloud's choice to bond with Jenova. Sephiroth only wished he knew _why_ his lover had felt it necessary.

_Destroy them for simply being?_

That too had been considered. But the people needed ShinRa at the moment. They needed someone to provide a central organisation or else everything would descend into chaos. _I'm not completely stupid, Reeve. If I did something the consequences would only effect me. You should know that about me by now._ Sephiroth sighed. All he could do now was run, fight when he got cornered and wait for the day he could be reunited with Cloud. A day that was perhaps closer than he'd thought, if the Cloud of the dream world was real, perhaps he wouldn't have to die first.

"One day Cloud... One day we will be together. This life can't last forever."

~ * ~

" _No!_ " For the second time that night Cloud bolted awake. "Not again," he gasped, turning to sit on the side of the bed. "No." He shook his head as he recalled the dream. "This was different. Sephiroth's never spoken... No..." Cloud shook his head again, forcefully. "It doesn't matter. He was lying. Whatever he was - dream, something I created, or some twisted universe - he wasn't Sephiroth."

::True enough,:: a small voice spoke softly. ::He wasn't the Sephiroth you killed, or else you would never have felt that! And you felt it. You can try to bury it but I'm not going to let you forget.::

"No!"

::Yes! It was an impossible dream here but I'm not going to go when there is hope. When that Sephiroth is quite obviously different.::

"Shut up!" Cloud shook his head, resisting the urge to hold it in his hands, anything to make the voice disappear, which it thankfully did at his motion.

It was going to be one long day.

~ * ~

Cloud fought. His enemy was invisible and persistent and far more dangerous than any, save one that he had faced before. And he was tired, so very tired.

::Why don't you just stop?:: That voice was as crisp and fresh and _rested_ as always. ::It's just a waste of energy to fight against the inevitable you know and it really won't be that bad.::

"No! I don't want to. I don't want to sleep. I don't want to dream..." He whispered brokenly trying to find anything he could focus on, anything to keep him awake. But for once even the couple next door were silent. There was nothing. "No..."

The enemy won.

~ * ~

Sephiroth sighed looking up into a pair of blue eyes. Blue eyes that were quivering with hate but shaded by confusion. "Why don't you just let go for a while?" He invited, offering Cloud a piece of the ration pack that had made it to the dream plane with him.

Cloud took the pro-offered food warily but eventually settled down in the grass a short way from him. For a while there was silence until Cloud spoke. "You said you killed me but didn't want to. But I remember killing you," his voice was thick with emotion. "So what is this place? And if we both remember killing the other why are we both here?"

"I don't know. Maybe we're both dead and this is a meeting place for souls with unfinished business." Sephiroth paused, allowing that to sink in. "But I don't think so."

"This is a dream," Cloud murmured. He couldn't summon his hatred anymore. Something was saying that it was wrong to use it against this man, this Sephiroth, something that sounded like Aeris. "One we are sharing."

"That would make sense. We probably come from mirror universes then."

"No!" Cloud spoke with sudden force. "I never loved you. Insane or sane, I never loved you and never stood by your side. I wanted..." He shook his head. "You did though, didn't you? You fought with Cloud, as an equal, not under him?"

"Yes..." Sephiroth said slowly. Cloud's words brought back so many memories but something nagged. "You fought under me?" He questioned. At Cloud's nod he continued. "What did you want?"

"Want?" Cloud whispered the word, looking into the distance, looking into his memories. "I wanted to..." His voice was almost inaudible. Only mako enhanced senses allowed Sephiroth to hear. "But then you destroyed Nibelhelm and that dream died."

"I see..." Sephiroth half closed his eyes as his own memories returned. "I was different but the end was the same. I guess we're parallel universes then. Even so," he shook off his memories, now was not the time. "I don't know how similar our worlds are but I have to warn you. _Reeve._ Watch him. He's restarted the ShinRa Wutai war here and decided that I'm a security threat so he's hunting me down. He might do the same for you."

"No... Not Reeve. What about the others?"

_Cloud's concerns have never been for himself. He is as caring as always._ "Others? Avalanche?"

Cloud nodded. "Tifa, Barret, Nanaki, Cid, Vincent and even Yuffie. What about them?"

"It's weird to hear you say their names but they're fine. They didn't kill ShinRa's greatest General." Sephiroth's voice was full of self-mocking with that line. "Reeve doesn't want them. I think Tifa went to Cosmo Canyon with Nanaki, Yuffie's fighting in the war, Barret's somewhere in Khalm with Marlene and Aeris' mother. And Cid and Vincent are chasing the perfect sunset together, although I keep wondering how Shera's going to take the news."

"She'll take it okay. Well, she did here," Cloud said, correcting himself. "Sounds about what happened here, except for the fighting and the fact that Cid and Vincent are living in the next room. I wouldn't mind but they're _loud_!"

"I wouldn't know."

Cloud suddenly smiled, although it seemed almost like a grimace.

"What's the matter?"

"Here I am, sitting down having a conversation with my most hated foe, when I'm not even trading blows and we're discussing our mutual allies... I must be going mad." He paused. "How did you do it?" Cloud questioned quietly, his voice serious again and there was no question about what 'it' he meant. "It almost killed me and I don't have the emotional attachments that you did."

"That I do," Sephiroth corrected him, with no trace of anger. "It hurt. It hurt a lot but in the end the Cloud I knew was already dead, long before I swung the final blow. I have to believe that or the pain I still feel would be overwhelming."

"I know... General Sephiroth, my hero... I saw him die as he entered Nibelhelm. It was only his body that I killed. The mind after Nibelhelm was only Jenova's"

"Your hero?"

"I told you..."

Sephiroth gasped.

"What's the matter?" Cloud asked, concern coloring his tone.

"I have to go," he said, vanishing suddenly, as if he'd never been there. "Remember Reeve. I'm serious about the threat he represents," his disembodied voice said before all trace of his presence vanished.

"No, don't go. I don't want you to," Cloud murmured, slurring the last word as he was jolted awake by a loud noise from the room next to him...

"God dammit you two! Can't you keep it down? Some of us are trying to sleep!" Cloud blinked as he shouted that last. Sleep. He hadn't wanted to but now he did. There was something compelling about that Sephiroth. Something he'd long denied was awakening and he wanted to sleep so he could see Sephiroth, the old one, the General who asked what it was like to be back in his town, even if _he'd_ been ashamed.

::Heh! I told you so!::

To Be Continued...


	2. Capture

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 1 - Capture

Cloud was in a pensive mood that morning. At least that was the impression Cid and Vincent got when they finally emerged for breakfast. It was the kid’s turn to cook and while he had prepared an adequate meal, he barely picked at it and for someone like Cloud, who usually ate a more than generous serving, that was not a good sign.

"Kid, what's wrong?" It was Cid who eventually broke the silence. Vincent had been loosening up but was still as silent as ever. He probably appreciated Cloud's quiet.

"Nothing," Cloud answered quickly.

"That's not true kid," Cid said indignantly. "You've been quiet all week. Something’s eating you. What is it?" Cid's tone clearly said that he wasn't going to let Cloud get away with a vague answer.

"Nothing." Cloud rose from the table. "I think..." he added as he moved towards the door. "I need to think about it for a while. I'm taking a chocobo." With that he disappeared through the door.

"Cloud!" Cid called. "Cloud, get back here! You've got to do the $%^#&* dishes!"

"I cooked," his voice echoed back. "So it's your turn to do the washing!"

Vincent continued to munch his way through his toast. His expression hadn't changed during the exchange.

"Something’s wrong with that boy," Cid turned his scowling face towards Vincent. "I know it. He's hiding something."

Vincent nodded, flicking over a page of the newspaper before he reached for another slice of toast.

"Argh!" Cid screamed at Vincent's complete unconcern. He knew the sharp shooter couldn't possibly be that dense. He _had_ to have noticed the change in Cloud and even if he didn't show it Cid knew the man was concerned. "Is no one paying attention to me?"

"Apparently not today," Vincent's voice sounded from the doorway.

"Hey, the dishes!" Cid objected to Vincent's exit. How had he moved without him noticing?

"Uh uh," Vincent shook his head but didn't pause. "I'm cooking dinner so you've got the dishes all to yourself." If Cid had stopped to consider he would have sworn he heard a laugh in Valentine's tone. But as it was he was too busy to hear much of anything.

Cid knew a lot of curses and it took a while to run through them all.

~ * ~

Cloud's chocobo strode easily, its golden plumage ruffling slightly in the wind of its passage. It had been breed for speed and stamina and could easily run all day. It was striding through grassland but it had made a conscious decision to stay away from the mountains in the distance. Unless its rider wanted to, the chocobo didn't feel like climbing today. Not that Cloud noticed, he was too lost in his own thoughts to pay much attention to anything. And riding a gold chocobo he didn't have to. They outran any trouble easily and in most cases potential predators didn't even know he'd passed by.

 _Why am I feeling this now?_ He questioned himself.

It had begun with dreams, over a month ago. They were infrequent at first. He could shove their memory aside but they had become more frequent, more detailed until he could no longer ignore them. They were always about _him._ Sephiroth.

The man was either holding him close, offering him protection, comfort and love or he was the one to give comfort, holding Sephiroth close, stroking his hair, the silver strands like silk between his fingers. But no matter if he was the protector or the protected there was always the feeling of trust, of love. And he _wanted_ it. Wanted it to be real.

That had always woken him up, cold with sweat and shivering at the difference between reality and dream.

 _But what if the dream is just another facet of reality?_ The Sephiroth he'd spoken to was so different from the one he knew. The authority was still there, the power but the blinding desire to kill, to hurt, to dominate was gone. The Sephiroth last night was the General Cloud had never known, the General he'd only watched from ShinRa's ranks. Cold and aloof, yes, the General had to be distant but underneath it all there was a man who cared for his fighters, his soldiers.

::But he opened up to you. He loves you.:: Cloud's mental voice pointed out. ::What remains is for you to open to him. Give in to the dream, the one that was impossible here.::

"No!" Cloud cried suddenly, ignoring the way his chocobo cocked its head at his voice. "That would mean..." he trailed off.

There had been other dreams of darkness and warmth. He didn't remember them well but there was always warmth and soft murmurs in the dark. Caressing hands on his skin, the tickle of long silver hair tracing across his chest and sides. The quick breath of another and their smooth perfect skin beneath his own hands. Emerald eyes burning with desire. The smell of Sephiroth filling him, the taste of nothing else. Passion, pleasure, desire satisfied only by the one he was with and the knowledge that he was the one who satisfied the desire in the other's eyes.

::Yes, that would mean _that_ but you cannot say that you don't really want it. It would be good for you, for us! There is nothing holding you here so give in.::

"But this is my world and that was nothing but a dream."

::It is a dream for now but it is a dream of what could be, so it's real enough. You aren't basing your feelings on nothing but for now it's only a dream. When the time comes, you are going to have to choose but until then don't deny what you feel. It's only a waste of time.:: The voice fell silent and Cloud got the feeling it would be content to wait for now.

_Don't deny what I feel... What do I feel?_

Cloud closed his eyes and reasoned with himself.  _I guess I don't hate this Sephiroth._ He was not the one who caused him pain, who had done such terrible things. _And in the end, I guess I know now that it wasn't really Sephiroth at all... What do I feel though? ... Aeris, help me! Why can't I hate your killer, no matter the guise he wears?_

::Now that's not fair Cloud,:: the flower girl's voice echoed around him, so perfect in his memory. ::I always knew it wasn't Sephiroth but you needed to discover that for yourself. I only want you to be happy Cloud so what do you really feel?::

 _It was nice..._ He began. It had been nice, calming to talk. Having someone actually listen to him without trying to impose their own goals and agendas, without having them try to maneuver the conversation to something he didn't want. Sephiroth was... nice but at the same time he had been insightful. He obviously loved Cloud. _But that was his Cloud. Could he love me and could I love him?_

He remembered the desire, the sense of safety, love and satisfaction that came with the dreams.

 _I could love,_ he decided. _But for now, I think to talk is enough, to know that the possibility exists and to work from there._

::A remarkably mature decision but that's not everything you need to consider. It's enough for now though, you're nearly back.:: The voice indicated.

Cloud looked up. True enough, in the time he'd been lost in his thoughts his chocobo had decided to turn for home. It was even now running up the small incline that led to his house. "You get hungry, huh girl?" he questioned the bird before casting his gaze to the sky. It was almost noon. "I guess that's okay. After I've fixed you up, I could do with some lunch and if Cid and Vincent aren't busy this afternoon I think it would be a good idea to talk to them."

"Wark! Wark, wark!"

Cloud laughed but was cut off as a loud shout echoed from the direction of his house.

"God dammit, get your &^%(#@$ hands off me!"

Cid! And true to form Cid did not shut up.

"You bastards! I told you Cloud's not here and if I could bloody well warn him I would. You traitor Reeve! Hasn't the kid given you enough of his soul yet? Or does ShinRa just want the lot?"

Whatever reply there was it was too softly spoken to be heard as Cloud slowed his chocobo but continued to approach. He was very careful to remain out of sight. He had to know what was happening even if Sephiroth's voice was ringing in his ears. '"Remember Reeve. I'm serious about the threat he represents."' Cautiously Cloud peered over the hilltop to the scene before him.

His house was near Costa del Sol but far enough away to offer him and the other residents privacy. But at the moment that was a problem. Reeve couldn't have done this in public. The house was surrounded by blue uniformed ShinRa troops and for the most part their weapons were pointed towards the small group gathered at the front.

Turks, Reeve, Cid and Vincent.

"I _said_ I don't know where Cloud is!" Cid was yelling.

'"Reeve doesn't want them. He wants only me."'

But even as he watched he could see Vincent reaching slowly for the Death Penalty, so slowly that no one had noticed except maybe Cid who was inching closer to the soldier holding the Venus Gospel.

 _No! They can't fight that many. They'll be killed. No,_ he reconsidered. _Their deaths would be noticed and Reeve doesn't want that. What do I do? They'll be trapped!_

~ * ~

Trapped! But he wasted no movement in panic. Instead the emerald green eyes narrowed, cat like, as he flicked them over the group sent to apprehend him.

Turks - Reno, Rude and Elena. ShinRa's running dogs, dangerous enough in their own right but they'd lost a bit of bite when Cloud took out Tseng with frightening ease at the Temple. _He nearly took **us** out too, after Cait got the Black Materia... NO! Don't think of anything good Reeve has done. He was only helping because he had to._

Sephiroth dragged his mind back to the present, running over what he knew of each Turk. Reno - weapon Electro-mag Rod. A dangerous weapon not usually used but completely understandable when you knew he could absorb the electricity. Rude - the Turks quiet, seldom speaking tough guy. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. He wasn't actually sure what Rude's weapon was although fire absorption was his specialty. Elena - the blond looked almost out of place but she was far tougher than she appeared even if she was a scatterbrain. And her ability to absorb ice could be a bit of a problem. Ice magic was his specialty but it would help her too much.

A half smile flickered across Sephiroth's lips. The fight wasn't going to be easy but it wasn't beyond his capabilities either. There were, after all, spells they weren't immune to and no one had yet proved immune to his sword. He drew his blade, the hiss of steel made a counter point to the tension of battle.

"No Ultima Weapon?" Reno questioned, mocking.

"I don't need that blade." After everything was over, he had discarded the Planet's Weapon. It held too many memories. "And even Masamune is too good for the likes of you lot."

"We'll see about that," Elena cried, impulsive as always, as she launched a fire spell at him.

Sephiroth let it hit, he was too busy chanting other spells to bother deflecting it. Haste, Wall and Regen, interrupted only by a quick Tornado spell to keep Rude and Reno off his back. He threw himself sideways though, when he saw Reno cock and angle his electro-mag rod just so - Pyramid attack and he had no desire to be caught. The yellow energy pulsed passed him, entrapping a tree.

"Your aim's a little off Reno. Shall I show you how it's done?" Sephiroth questioned, running forward to take a quick swipe at Reno. The Turk twisted, catching the blade across his shoulder but not suffering any major damage. Sephiroth leapt back, dropping a few small items before Elena and Rude could flank him.

Rude followed him back while Elena cast a quick cure on Reno. Sephiroth smirked, just as the grenades he'd dropped went off rendering her magic pointless. It wasn't enough to kill them but it was enough for now. Sephiroth dodged Rude's fists, flicking his long blade through the man's defenses to inflict several small wounds but the Turk was good enough never to give him more than a small opening. Time to try something a little more serious than his sword.

Rude retreated as Elena and Reno emerged from the dust the grenades had kicked up. "You shouldn't have done that Sephiroth."

"Really?" he questioned in mock surprise. "Tell Reeve," Sephiroth snarled his voice now more cold than the North Crater. "I'm not returning to ShinRa. I've given them enough." With the last word he hurled an Ultima spell towards them, its green burning with the same intensity of his eyes.

In the green conflagration he heard a voice faintly call "Mage Barrier" before everything was burnt in green fire. As the magic faced, Sephiroth prepared himself. The Turks were dumb enough that Ultima wouldn't be enough to kill them, although it had probably severely weakened their defenses.

He allowed himself a quick chill smile when he saw his spell's final result as the green burning mist dissipated entirely. Rude and Reno seemed unaffected but Elena had several deep and very nasty looking magic burns. She was also staggering. He flicked a fire spell in her direction before anyone could react. It caught the Turk square on and Sephiroth felt a brief surge of satisfaction as she fell and did not get up.

"One down, two to go," he murmured loud enough for them to hear.

Both Reno and Rude's eyes hardened at his words. "No one attacks a Turk and gets away with it Sephiroth. Didn't Don Corneo teach you anything?" Reno questioned before releasing a charge of energy at Sephiroth.

"Only that you guys are easy to fool," he responded, flicking the energy aside but he didn't get a chance to counter attack since Rude had followed the bolt and was attacking with his fists. After a few passes with neither of them inflicting much damage Rude jumped back to Reno's side but Sephiroth was more interested in the fact that he was whispering something to him. Rude talking, in battle?

"You're still not taking us seriously?" Reno seemed surprised as he turned towards Sephiroth with an amazingly open posture. "You should. Use the Ultima Weapon, Sephiroth. Use the weapon you used to rip Cloud apart. Use it!"

"No!" Sephiroth snarled. There were too many images, too many feelings Reno's words were dragging out to swirl through his consciousness and the Turk didn't even know it. Turk... That was it. The image of the Temple of Ancients remained. Tseng falling to Cloud, run through by the... Heh! He could play this game.

Sephiroth raised his blade, angling it across his body and looked down at its sharp cutting edge. "I don't need the Ultima Weapon. Besides, the Masamune has had Turk blood once before, I really couldn't deprive it of the rest. It's just a pity it couldn't get it sooner."

The attack from the front he was expecting. He'd seen Elena twitch and knew she wouldn't have the cunning to remain silent as he insulted Tseng's death. But it was the attack from behind that caught him completely off guard. There were only three Turks weren't there?

A thousand needles pierced him, driving themselves deep into his flesh. A hundred pinpoints of blood stained his cloths. Molten earth fire burned him, searing his skin and eating away at him and the noise... The noise! Sonic waves drove themselves into his mind, rattling his bones. He thought he called out but he couldn't be sure. He couldn't make out anything but he knew he turned to face his attacker because as he staggered, desperately trying to remain upright he found himself looking full at the Traitor.

"Reeve..." he managed to gasp before he was forced to use the Masamune to support himself. His mako green eyes still burned with power. He wasn't quite finished yet.

"Surprised to see me Sephiroth?" The man asked conversationally. "I've been wanting this too long to let you get away."

"No!" Sephiroth withdrew one hand from the Masamune, gathering power for the spell. _Cloud, help me!_ He called silently, although whether to the Cloud he knew or the Cloud he'd just met he didn't know.

"It's too late for that now," Reeve said as Sephiroth felt the bolt from Reno's Electro-mag Rod strike home.

"Far too late," the Turk agreed.

Caught by surprise and completely unguarded Sephiroth fell still drawing the power for his spell in tangible waves around him. The world burned white hot and he couldn't see Reeve anymore. All he saw was amazingly spiky hair that refused to conform and a pair of soft, naturally glowing blue eyes, sparkling with tears despite the love he could see in their depths. "C...c  Clo..." _Cloud,_ his mind finished as his body failed. _Cloud!_

~ * ~

"Cloud!" The soldier pointed, calling frantically to where he had appeared in full view of the house, Ultima Weapon raised in challenge.

There had never been any choice. Vincent and Cid were good, they were better than good but Reeve had traveled with them in one form or another for a long time and he could see them reaching for their weapons. He wasn't about to let them get away. _I only hope that Sephiroth was right,_ Cloud thought as he drove his chocobo forward.

From the looks of things though, that other Sephiroth had been completely correct. Reeve and the troops, even the Turks pretty much ignored Cid and Vincent when he appeared. Cloud shouted, throwing the challenge and as many of the things he could remember being told about to Reeve before the man could react. "What am I Reeve? A security risk to ShinRa's greatness? The man who killed your General? Tell me then, what is Wutai? A conquered nation or one just waiting to strike? You started the war again yet or not?"

 _That_ bought a reaction. "How did you..."

"Know? I'm not as ignorant as you think, Reeve," Cloud's voice was like ice. "And I'm not about to be used again." He paused, concealing the spell he was preparing. "If you want me Reeve, you're going to have to come and get me. Just leave the others out of it." With that he wheeled his chocobo and raced off, away from the house, leaving the life and friends he had known for a year behind, trying not to look back as his world shattered around him.

To Be Continued...


	3. Explanation

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 2 - Explanation

    Reeve was dumbfounded at Cloud's actions only for an instant. The boy had always been hyper protective of his friends, or those he thought were. "Good acting you two," he complimented Cid and Vincent as the two of them moved away from the troops who had been guarding them. "But how did he know, especially about Wutai?"

    "Reeve! Why didn't you &^%(*#@ wait for our signal?" Cid snarled at the man who was effectively the Leader of the World. "I agreed to do this for a price but not if you're going to stuff up everything and not if this," he gestured towards the troops and the Turks, "is what you've got planned for the kid."

    "Still think you owe him?"

    "I do owe him! Even if..."

    "Even if he's still Sephiroth's puppet? Hojo's creation?"

    At this Cid was silent but Vincent spoke, his eyes flashing but showing none of his concern or worries. "That may be Reeve but apart from being quiet and withdrawn this past week he has done nothing to incriminate himself. You better not be lying to us Reeve. I will destroy Hojo's creation, if nothing more than to save the innocent who was once Cloud Strife but I will not commit another sin. I will not destroy him if he is not Hojo's creation, if he has truly broken free. I will destroy you." With that Vincent turned and walked back into the house, dismissing the Turks and troops.

    "If you're lying, we'll all be there to rip you apart Reeve." Cid followed Vincent, spitting his cigarette butt in his direction and pausing only to collect the Venus Gospel.

 _You can't destroy me because you'll never know the truth. And even if you find it, it will be far too late. You might be able to save yourselves but you won't be able to save Cloud. I do this for the people._ Reeve turned towards the Turks who were still there. "What are you waiting for? His personal invitation? Get after him!"

    "Yes sir!" They jolted into somewhat belated action.

    "Idiots," Reeve muttered, turning away. He was a busy man and couldn't indulge in a rant about the fact that Cloud had gotten away. For now.

    That was until a large explosion rang out from the other side of the hill. It came again and was this time accompanied by screams. Turk screams if the woman's voice he heard was any indication. Comet 2, Reeve decided, probably amplified. An effective way for Cloud to cover his tracks but it wouldn't be enough to kill the Turks so Reeve did nothing. He could be patient when the situation demanded. ::The people demand it,:: the voice told him firmly.

~ * ~

    Reeve watched dispassionately as Sephiroth fell. He dismissed whatever garble the fallen warrior was trying to say as the mako light faded from his eyes. Whatever it was, it wasn't important and really, where had that look of surprise come from? Sephiroth had been around ShinRa for years. He should have been expecting something like this. He was a security risk. It was that simple. If it _ever_ got out that he, the one meant to be Jenova's Child had gone against her wishes and killed what in effect was his mother and father, and ShinRa's greatest General there would be chaos and ShinRa would undoubtedly fall. There were always small organisations like Avalanche just waiting for their opportunity to strike and Reeve wasn't about to give them one. He'd spent too much time climbing ShinRa's corporate ladder, he wasn't about to see it fall, just when he'd reached the top.

    He glanced over at the Turks. Reno was casting some spell on Elena. Annoying as she was, she was still a Turk and they took care of their own. "Rude, bring him along," Reeve instructed, waving his hand towards Sephiroth. _He might have ruined our ultimate dreams for now but he's still a valuable experiment and as long as he's contained, the risk he poses is acceptable. I can authorise the Beta teams now too..._

    "...hey Reeve!" Rude finally managed to break through his thoughts. The Turk was speaking surprisingly loudly.

    "What is it?" Reeve questioned, turning. He'd spent too much time here already. There were other things he needed to do but as he turned the source of Rude's agitation became apparent in the form of a small glittering crystal orb - a _red_ orb.

    "Summon materia?"

    That wasn't possible. After Cloud had been defeated most of the summon materia had ceased functioning or had been intermittent at best. Then once the Weapons were gone they'd ceased functioning at all becoming dull red spheres that didn't even function as adequate paper weights. Dead Materia. Not unheard of before but not usual either. There were all sorts of theories - the Planet was punishing them; the Planet had decided that such power was better kept contained until such time that humans could control themselves; the Summoned had been on Cloud’s or the Weapon’s side all along or were extensions of them and did not wish to serve their killers - but no one knew exactly why. But this one, this one sparkled and glittered, even lying there half in shadow. This one was _alive_ and Reeve could feel the force of its power from where he was standing.

    "Bring it along. We'll have to ask him about this as well." Sephiroth, it seemed, still had the power to leave so many questions unanswered.

~ * ~

    "Cloud, you're here?"

    Cloud shrugged. "It seems I've got no choice when I sleep but what happened to you?" He couldn't help it. All the times he had seen Sephiroth, it didn't matter when, the man had been immaculately groomed. Even at the North Crater he'd carried a sense about him that he was proper and that the rest of them were curs, at the highest. He'd only lost that sense at the end. But this Sephiroth was disheveled. His long silver hair was matted and knotted. It would probably take forever to brush out. His clothing had rips and scuffs and stains of... blood?

    "What _happened_?" Cloud asked again, more urgently. It was only then that he noticed the Masamune was missing.

    "Oh... I got captured."

    " _You_ got captured?" Disbelief hung heavy in Cloud's voice.

    "There are limits to my abilities and facing Reeve and the Turks is it."

    "Ah... I'm sorry." Cloud looked at him, shivering slightly as the memory of years he'd spent captured returned. Memories he thankfully couldn't recall that well. "Do you know what they're going to do with you?"

    Sephiroth shrugged. "I'm a valuable experiment. As you said earlier I am Jenova's Child but that meant nothing after a human merged with Jenova."

    "Me? But what do you mean _merged_?"

    "That didn't happen there?"

    Cloud shook his head. "I don't think so but I'm not quite sure what you mean."

    Sephiroth sighed, sounding amazingly old. "I am _Jenova's Child,_ " he placed the stress on the words deliberately. "I was injected with cells from her while I was still in the womb. The Cloud of this world in the end was claiming to be Jenova and in a very real sense he was. Hojo, after Gast's death attempted to revive Jenova but he couldn't. Her remains were too old, to preserved for that to work. But what he could do was merge he body with one that was already living. And so that's what he did. Cloud Strife was chosen to be the one she merged with."

    "Why didn't they chose a female?" One thing Cloud knew, Jenova was _female_ \- her thoughts, her presence, her smell, everything said that she was female.

    "Why? They couldn't find a woman who was mentally able. And it wasn't through lack of trying. Physically Jenova could have merged with anyone but mentally... 'The Host' as they called it had to be very special." Sephiroth's voice was thick with disgust at the scientists but when he went on all trace of emotion had vanished and his voice was a monotone. "After merging Cloud became the greatest General ShinRa had ever seen and I lost the greatest piece of my life." It was clear his pain was still with him. He shook his head, sending strands of his hair dancing in the sun like gossamer. "What about you? What's been happening there?"

    Cloud was suddenly uncomfortable. Despite the fact that he knew this wasn't the Sephiroth he'd fought, not the Sephiroth he hated he was uncomfortable thanking the man. He sighed, a bit mockingly and scratched at the back of his head. "I actually have to thank you," Cloud managed to say after a few starts. "Reeve... Reeve decided to come for me but I managed to get away. I only hope Cid and Vincent are okay. He had them captured when I saw them last."

    "It should be okay," Sephiroth brushed over Cloud's fumbling. "Reeve should only want you but please, tell me what _happened_ on your world. You already said you never loved me but at the same time it was you who killed your world’s version of me. So what happened? What was different?"

    Cloud sighed again but this time it was different, a more considering sigh that stated for him the 'Oh boy... Where do I start?' that was running around his head. "Well, for a start, _you_ were always ShinRa's General and Jenova's Child, although that didn't come up until later. As far as I know the possibility of bringing Jenova back to life by merging her with someone never occurred to anyone here, or at least, I don't think it was ever tried. For my part I was just a ShinRa ground troop, someone who failed to get into SOLDIER."

    "But your eyes?" Sephiroth objected.

    "I'll get to them," Cloud said with a smile. It felt good, just to be able to talk, just to be able to explain the last few years of his life. "Everything was fine until you went on a mission to Nibelheim, and there you meet Jenova. She'd been put there, in the reactor after Gast died, I think. No one probably knew what to do with it. After that you went insane and destroyed Nibelheim and then you went back to the reactor to free Jenova. That's when Zack caught you. You ran him through, Tifa as well when she confronted you. I got there about that time and Zack gave me his sword. He told me to kill you so I did, or I tried. You ran me through too," Cloud shivered at the memory. "But then you and Jenova fell into the Lifestream and it was assumed you were dead. Five years later though, you returned and you were trying to destroy the world again, no..." Cloud ordered the events in his mind. "You were trying to become immortal, become the Lifestream itself using the Black Materia and Meteor. That's when Avalanche and I fought you and I killed you again."

    "Your eyes?" Sephiroth prompted. He obviously wanted to know how Cloud had gotten a SOLDIER's mako eyes if he'd been rejected.

    "In the five years you were initially thought dead, Zack and I were prisoners, guinea pigs of Hojo. He gave me a SOLDIER's abilities, amongst other things." Cloud's voice betrayed no emotion.

    "I'm sorry."

    "What for?"

    "That I caused you so much pain," Sephiroth could see parts of the story Cloud was not telling him.

    "It wasn't you!" Cloud objected. "It wasn't even really you here. It was all Jenova! I should have known that earlier. I should never have blamed you."

    "We're only human Cloud, despite what they do to our bodies. We are only human. We both needed someone to blame." Sephiroth dismissed the matter before he asked the question which had begun to form in Cloud's mind. "I wonder if we could meet? I mean really meet. Cross dimensions. I'd accept an invite to yours if I could."

    "That we're talking seems to indicate that there is some connection," Cloud said slowly. This was way beyond him and he had no idea of even how to begin to approach the question. His face was full of confusion, straining to find sense.

    "Don't worry about it, Cloud. It's just a wish," Sephiroth said with a smile. "Although you do look adorable with that expression," he added, bending over to gently kiss Cloud's forehead. "Just like I remember," he faded from the world.

~ * ~

    Cloud awoke with a start, thrashing, tangling himself in his blanket. Sephiroth had kissed him! Granted there was nothing intimate with it but he had still kissed him and the look in his eyes said he wanted... needed more.

    ::But it's not like you didn't like it,:: the voice was back. ::I don't know why you're so surprised. You know how he feels. I'm just surprised he didn't make it deeper.::

    "Why am I so surprised?.. You are me aren't you?"

    ::I am you, yes. But I'm a different part Cloud. Don't worry about the differences too much. They aren't important.:: The voice was silent after that.

    "Don't worry, he says," Cloud muttered, settling back down to see if he could get some more sleep. It was too dark to attempt to travel now and the voice was right about one thing, after he'd gotten over his initial surprise he did have the faint desire for more.

~ * ~

    "That's it!" Cid was tired of lying awake, worrying about Cloud. Reeve was up to something and even if he wasn't lying about the kid being Hojo's still it wasn't right. "I owe him too damn much."

    "What are you waiting for?" Vincent's voice sounded from the window.

    "^$%#!" Cid jumped before peering though the darkness at Vincent. "You &^%#$* vampire, you're dressed?"

    "I've been waiting. I can't fly the _Bronco_ and that's the quickest way to the _Highwind_."

    "Humph! Well then, hurry up and throw me my clothes."

    Vincent complied, throwing various articles of clothing towards the bed where Cid sat. "Idiot! I need my boxers first. Where the hell'd you put them?"

    "How am I supposed to know? You weren't exactly neat either. It took me forever to find my clothes."

    Cid didn't dignify that with an answer.

    They made it to the _Bronco_ easily and Cid soon had it gliding through the night sky towards the _Highwind._

    "Heh! I'm just glad the kid refused to give it back to ShinRa!" Cid said with a smile at the memory. Cloud had been adamant when he faced Reeve down about it, when the issue had finally come up. What had he said? Oh yes, he'd been so quiet Reeve almost hadn't heard but he'd been determined. 'No Reeve, the _Highwind_ **_used_** to belong to ShinRa. But since Cid has provided both the crew and fuel for quite some time, it belongs to us now.' "Just another thing I owe him for," he sighed. "What do you think Reeve's up to?"

    "Something. He was not telling us the truth." It appeared Vincent was back to his normal self.

    _A time and a place for all things, you idiot!_ Cid thought to himself. Vincent was the way he was because he was focused. He knew the rules of engagement very well indeed.

    "I believe we should collect everyone first," Vincent said quietly as they came upon the clearing the _Highwind_ was tethered in. "That way we can see if Reeve has said anything to them."

    "What about Cloud?"

    "He's capable of looking after himself," was Valentine's only reply.

    "..."

~ * ~

    Sephiroth awoke but he was intelligent enough to keep his eyes closed as full awareness and feeling came to him. Memories first, always of him. Awesome blue eyes, reckless hair that just wouldn't conform, a soft voice and protection, strength and love that promised eternity. _That_ was nothing more than a dream, his eternity would be spent alone but Sephiroth was hard pressed to keep from crying out in longing as those memories faded. _I killed you. I destroyed that dream._

    Memories closer to the present followed. Turks and Reeve. That bastard's attack from behind. Sephiroth's body tensed but he forces himself to relax. At the moment there was nothing he could do and while the attack had been cowardly and overwhelming, it did show that at least Reeve took him seriously and really didn't want him running loose.

    Voices slowly came to him, faded, disjointed, almost completely out of earshot but definitely there.

    "... Project A... awakening... Still don't know... Looks stable... not strong enough..." None of them made any sense because it didn't seem like they were talking about him, and it certainly didn't sound like a prison.

    Then a new sensation came to him. It was one so familiar but so hated he recognised it immediately. The feel of his hair floating, the feel of his entire body floating, and the taste, the smell of the green liquid he was in. Liquid which maintained his body, giving him the nutrients and air he needed to live while holding him trapped.

    _A lab then._ The thought came to him with cold certainty and he shivered as his memories again overwhelmed him. Watching, standing on the outside surrounded by ants scurrying around dressed in white coats. Watching a figure so achingly familiar yet so stunningly beautiful to his eyes but unable to say anything as they slowly moved in the tank, heading towards the other... the thing that was also suspended in the liquid. Jenova. He wanted to scream, to shout, to stop the experiment, to take the familiar weight of the Apocalypse blade, strapped across his back and drive it through the heart of that thing, the thing they called his mother who was now going to take away his life.

    Cloud moved, always closer to Jenova just as the scientist's requested although how the instructions were being relayed Sephiroth didn't know. Most of them seemed too busy with frenzied activity with only Hojo providing a centre of calm although his calm was tinged with anxious expectation.

    The boy had agreed to do this for them but Sephiroth didn't know why. '"For you,"' was the answer his love had given him, while wrapped in the safety of his arms but that was not nearly answer enough. _Why Cloud?_ he raged silently. _I don't need you to be stronger. I just need you to be you so that I know, no matter what happens you'll always be there for me. Cloud, don't do this,_ he begged internally but could do nothing more than watch like the perfect, emotionless SOLDIER he was supposed to be.

    Cloud looked back just once as he reached Jenova and was reaching out to embrace her, reaching out to take that body into his own. _For you,_ his eyes said again. _And for me, so that I can stand by your side and so that we're strong enough to defeat ShinRa no matter what truth they learn._

 _No! Cloud, no!_ Sephiroth screamed mentally. _Don't go away!_ But by then it was far too late. Jenova had sensed a living being near it and that putrefied, rotting body had reached out, faster than the eye could see and wrapped itself around Cloud, pinning him in position. The scientists, Sephiroth, everyone had one last glimpse of wide blue eyes holding more terror and agony that the world should ever know before the liquid covered everything. But by then it was all over, and Sephiroth's heart had been ripped apart.

    _No. It wasn't. That came after, when I didn't think things could hurt anymore,_ Sephiroth thought remorsefully. Would it have been different if he'd just refused to let ShinRa experiment on Cloud, just told them their perfect killing machine, Jenova's Child, still had a human heart?

    Tap, tap, tap.

    His thoughts and guilt was interrupted by something in the present, something outside his cell.

    "Sephiroth," the voice was high pitched and had a nasal quality to it but he didn't recognise it. "We know you're awake," it continued as Sephiroth came to the conclusion it belonged to a scientist. Only they had that mixture of arrogance and self-assuredness in their tone all the time. "So why don't you open your eyes and look around?" The scientist invited with a note of triumph.

    Sephiroth complied in opening his eyes at least, fixing the obnoxious lab rat with a glare from his emerald eyes that would have shattered stone. As it was the man had the good taste to quail before he scurried away, a look of terror on his face. Sephiroth smiled briefly, letting his canines show. It was a small victory and hardly important but he had always enjoyed putting the fear of god, or the fear of him into those white-coated freaks.

    He looked around. The lab was large, filled with benches and equipment. While he couldn't see it clearly he assumed everything was spotlessly clean and ready to be used. Everywhere there seemed to be white coated people scurrying, some with clip boards, some without, some hastily scribbling notes in half literate scrawl - he'd never seen any of the make notes legibly. Along the walls though were blue uniformed troops interspersed with mechanical guards. They weren't taking any risks and he assumed the place was packed with surveillance equipment.

    Sephiroth looked closer. There were definite focal points for the activity. There was one around him but he dismissed them disdainfully. He'd have more than ample opportunity to study them later. There was one around something he could see it the distance, something that glittered and sparkled. It glittered red. Was that... Summon materia?

    He shrugged. It didn't really matter if it was or wasn't. There wasn't much he could do from here but it was a potential weapon once he got out his this cage and there didn't appear to be that much security around it. There couldn't be. Security lead to corrupted test results he knew was the view of most scientists. Still its presence explained the movements of some of the scientists but there was still movement unaccounted for, something to the side of him.

    Sephiroth looked over slowly. There was a second tank in the lab and it was occupied, though the figure could hardly be more than a child. _Those bastards! They're experimenting on children now?_ Sephiroth looked closer. The child had a halo of short blonde hair and was male. He bobbed gently in the fluid. Thin arms and legs gave the impression of grace and to Sephiroth it looked like he'd be beautiful when he grew up.

    Gently, ever so gently they floated, moved by currents, eddies in the liquid Sephiroth could not see, slowly turning around and as Sephiroth saw the child’s face fully he gasped, gapped and felt his heart go cold.

    **_Cloud..._**

To be continued...


	4. Enemy

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 3 - Enemy

    _No!_ It wasn't possible. They couldn't possibly be that stupid, to bring Cloud Strife back, after everything he had done, after what it had cost to stop him. They couldn't. But as Sephiroth looked further he could see that it really was Cloud and that they really did intend to bring him back.

    _No!_ Any sense of peace Sephiroth had deserted him. _After what I did, after what I sacrificed, after what it cost me to strike him down, even if they don't know the price, they couldn't seriously want him back._

Sephiroth took a few deep breaths. He could still do that in the liquid and slowly tried to push his thoughts into some sort of order. Reeve and ShinRa, they didn't know, _no one_ knew that Cloud was anything more than a General to him, a rival. They didn't know that Cloud was his life, his soul and that he'd rather have died himself. Hojo had known but he'd only learnt that when Sephiroth's sword was through his guts and Jenova had thought that it would be a fine joke to let him know the truth before he died. Jenova.

    _They can't know,_ Sephiroth thought with new clarity. _And they're not bringing back Cloud. They're bringing back Jenova. Cloud was never more than a convenient shell for them, no matter how much he meant to me. I wonder if Cloud can fight Jenova this time or whether it will be the same as last time._ Tiredly Sephiroth closed his eyes. He felt a thousand years older even though seconds had passed.

    "Alright, we've got full Alpha consciousness. Prepare to drain the tank." That voice came through loud and clear before klaxons sounded.

    Sephiroth's eyes flew open. _Full Alpha consciousness... Drain the tank..._ It wasn't his, he knew that. They had him trapped and they wouldn't release him quite yet. Besides he'd never been able to raise anything more than half Alpha consciousness and that had left him tired and hurting, nauseous for the rest of the week. They had to mean Cloud. Sephiroth looked over at him and had to forcibly remind himself that this wasn't Cloud. Alpha consciousness was Jenova. All they meant was Jenova was awake in Cloud's body... The body. That's all there is of Cloud. Nothing that really mattered. Nothing he should care about.

    He forced himself to watch as bubbles began to appear in the liquid as it slowly drained away. Cloud's body slumped to the floor of the tank but as the liquid drained away entirely it was racked by a series of sudden violent spasms, choking, hacking coughing as his lungs expelled the liquid, replacing it with air. Slowly, after a little while but still spitting the occasional trace of the liquid Cloud sat up and looked out at the world which awaited him.

    Cloud's blue eyes opened, the mako glow making them shine and for an instant Sephiroth's heart contracted with love. Could it be possible? Could they be wrong? Could they have only brought Cloud back, with enough of Jenova to fool their sensors and make his eyes glow? It still hurt, the love, the hope, the knowledge of what he'd done but it was only an instant before those eyes focused and Sephiroth felt the familiar dread enter his heart. Those blue eyes he remembered as soft and as caring as the sky, sparkling with laughter and as gentle, as loving... gods, _so_ gentle, _so_ loving, not the eyes of the General but the eyes of his love, they were gone, replaced by the eyes he had killed. Eyes cold and distant and glittering with a malevolent power that would stop at nothing to achieve its goals. Eyes that shone, insanely powerful and completely uncaring. _Exactly as I was meant to be._

 _No!_ Sephiroth almost screamed when he saw one of the scientists move forward to open the tank. There were troops at the ready but they couldn't possibly stand against him and although Cloud was slumped against the tank wall that was deceit. Sephiroth could see that Cloud, no Jenova - _I can't think of him as Cloud, not anymore. He is only Jenova._ \- was coiled and ready to attack. She was just biding her time, waiting to be let out.

    _Looks like I'll die here._ The thought was strangely comforting. As soon as Jenova saw him it was unlikely she'd let him live much longer. _Ah... I can be with Cloud again... Or maybe I can be with that Cloud. He looked happy and even if he won't accept me, I'd be happy knowing he was there._

    "Arrgghh!..." The scream brought him back to the present.

    Cloud was half out of the tank, a superior condescending smirk on his face. There was blood splattered on his arms and chest and it came from the scientist who was still staggering, hands frantically, uselessly clutching at his throat. They were dead. The body just hadn't caught up.

    With a small cry and a sudden surge of movement, Cloud leapt forward driving towards one of the few troops who had reacted, hands curled into claws, lips drawn back into a snarl. He impacted, resulting in a sickening crunch as bones shattered under Cloud's force before he jumped again, using the body as a backboard to increase his momentum.

    Sephiroth felt a wave of confusion hit him. That was not Cloud. That was Jenova but why was she doing this? She was usually so much more subtle.

    "No, Cloud! Stop!" Sephiroth screamed when he saw several soldiers cock their guns and take aim. Even if he was Jenova, Sephiroth couldn’t let him die without being sure. He just couldn't let him die.

    The sudden rational noise among the screams of the dying brought most of the rooms eyes to Sephiroth but he only cared about one set and as they looked at him Sephiroth felt all hope leave him. It was not Cloud. Not even a little and even after the merging there had been a little of Cloud. This time there was nothing.

    Sephiroth shivered as recognition dawned in those eyes and the smirk turned into something pleased and infinitely more malicious. Cloud's body shifted slightly, turning to face him before him stood up straight, and uncoiling from the hunched position he had taken to attack the troops. He looked him full in the eye.

    "Trapped Sephiroth?" Cloud - _No! It's Jenova. It's **Jenova.** It's **JENOVA!**_ \- asked quietly, almost whispering on a stage that held only the two of them. He twisted his hand slowly so that the palm faced upwards. Child fingers were graceful in the movement.

    A look of surprise passed across those features and the gesture was repeated. When it failed again Jenova's eyes widened and she slowly bought her hand up to examine it.

    "No?" Jenova said quietly but Sephiroth knew it wasn't in response to the blood covering the hand. "No! A child's body?" Jenova whirled suddenly, Sephiroth forgotten, to face the small group of scientist's who were huddled together near the far door. "You put me in a child's body?" she hissed, eyes blazing, hands curling into claws again.

    "Of course we did Jenova," a voice sounded over the PA system. Reeve. "And this is the reason why. If you are not going to co operate with us then we will destroy you, now, before you develop your powers fully." Reeve seemed perfectly calm. Along the walls, panels slid back as he spoke, revealing a combination of mechanical and magical weapons, all targeted at Jenova. There was no way for her to escape but neither was there any way for the other occupants of the room to survive. Necessary sacrifice is what Reeve would probably say but at least he had some concept of how dangerous Jenova was.

    Jenova's eyes darted around the walls and she obviously came to the same conclusions. "I like the way you think, Reeve," she said, licking her lips. "But you have always known I have my own goals..." She paused, shooting a glare at Sephiroth just loaded with malice. "I have no intention of repeating mistakes of the past so for now I will co-operate with ShinRa. It seems we want the same things."

    "Good," Reeve said before the PA system was deactivated and a set of doors opened, revealing Reeve, Scarlet, Heidigger and the Turks.

    Reeve walked forward, straight to Jenova, ignoring the blood and corpses around him. "I'm glad we have an agreement," he said as the wall panels closed and the tension began to seep from the room. His eyes clouded somewhat as he considered how far he could push Jenova now. "'Mistakes of the past,'" he quoted. "As far as I knew, you made no mistakes."

    "Just one," The thing that wore Cloud's body said. "I made just one but it was enough." Jenova suddenly laughed at the confusion in Reeve's face, casting another malicious glare at Sephiroth's tank. "But you don't even know what it was do you?" There was a faint note of triumph in her tone.

    " _NO!_ " Sephiroth slammed up against the side of his tank. "You mustn't, you can't!" He ignored the startled looks he was getting from Reeve and the others. Jenova couldn't tell, she couldn't. She couldn't destroy his secret like this. Knowing it was impossible but having to try anyway, he pounded on the tank walls, trying anything to get out, to silence her.

    "Oh but I can," Jenova turned, taking a few careful steps through the slicks of blood towards Sephiroth. "You never told them? No, of course you didn't. It wouldn't do for their perfect soldier to show weakness, sentiment! Well, I think they deserve to know everything... The reason why their General failed them and the reason why their back up, the child of my body failed as well and in failing killed their General. It makes such a nice story. But don't worry Sephiroth, my son, in return I'll tell you something they haven't told you." Jenova's grin became if anything more vindictive, more pleased at the pain she was causing with every passing word. "I'll tell you the real reason Cloud Strife was the only one who could merge with me." Jenova giggled at some joke only she understood. "I think you'll like that a lot.

    "But first," She turned back to Reeve. "You want to know the real reason your General Cloud went insane, broke free from me and wanted nothing more than the destruction of the world. It's easy really. I was the only way he could see to destroy me."

    "You're lying Jenova," Sephiroth's voice was dark with emotion. If she was going to tell, he was going to make sure she at least told the truth. " _I_ know. I was there, all through it. It was never Cloud, it was only you."

    Jenova laughed deeply, the sound completely at odds with the body producing it. "Well, maybe I am, just a little... But it was the only way one of us could get rid of the other."

    "You would have died!" Reeve was intelligent enough to grasp the implications.

    Jenova just shoot a smug look at him. She was power beyond belief and the destruction of the Lifestream would have truly made her immortal. Humans had such a narrow definition of what they called life. "But what _would_ have happened is not the point here. You, Reeve, you want to know why it happened, so you can prevent it happening again. No fear of that though. I won't allow it." Jenova laughed again in anticipation.

    "No!"

    "Again it's easy," she jerked Cloud's spikes towards Sephiroth.

    " _No!_ "

    "Him."

    " ** _No!_** "

    "He is the entire reason in the end Cloud Strife was not an acceptable match."

    " ** _NO!_** "

    "Him and his devotion to his _lover,_ " Jenova's eyes glittered maliciously. She loved the confusion and Sephiroth's shouts for her to stop.

    Reeve was silent only for an instant. " _WHAT?_ " He barely knew who he should be questioning.

    "It's quite true, Reeve," Jenova explained looking back at the now silent Sephiroth. "Cloud and Sephiroth were lovers, devoted to one another but since 'Jenova's Child' was an emotionless and perfect SOLDIER they hid it from ShinRa. They hid it from everyone until they thought they had a way to show the truth... Until me!

    "Which brings me back to my promise, my son!" Jenova hissed the last words but apart from that she continued to speak as gaily as ever, ignoring the way Sephiroth was almost slumped in his tank. "The reason Cloud Strife was chosen above all others to become me." She laughed again at the knowledge only she knew. "It was because of you Sephiroth that he initially volunteered. He wanted to be strong enough to stand with you, not hide in your shadow"

    "No! I never wanted him to... I never needed him to..."

    "You may never needed it but he did. Imagine that, despite your so-called human love he still felt the need for something more. He still felt he wasn't good enough. So what did your love bring him?"

    Sephiroth shoved his pain aside. "But it was still something you couldn't give him," he snarled, eyes burning with rage. "That's why it all came undone! When I gave him my love after you were there, he fought you, didn't he? Fought what he had become. And that's when he truly died," Sephiroth looked at Jenova, trying to ignore her achingly familiar countenance. Something made easier by the wrong posture, eyes, feeling, everything Jenova exuded. "He may have died then but he _defeated_ you." There was a note of pride in his voice. "He left you so broken that the only way you could avoid death in his _mortal_ body was to destroy the world, gather enough of the Lifestream together so that you could exist forever. Cloud's only gamble worked, that someone would be good enough to kill his body before you achieved your aims, and for that I will remember him. And I will love him."

    Jenova cocked her head at him. "A likely story and probably what you believe is the truth, but even if it is true it does tell Reeve that I'm not going to try that again. Now that Cloud’s not here I can _make_ this body immortal and I will because I am _eternity_ and I will be here when this world burns to ash, when the furthermost star flickers out and dies." Jenova turned back to Reeve. "It looks like it's your decision. What are you going to do with me and more importantly, what are you going to do with him?" She flexed her hands experimentally as she spoke. The decision could really only go one way without bloodshed.

    Reeve looked over at one of the scientists. The man had managed to compose himself somewhat, enough that he looked professional and not like a rabbit cowering from a pack of dogs. He nodded at the President's glance indicating that _something_ was possible. Reeve looked back at Jenova, giving her a long hard look, which she returned with equal frankness, before he spoke.

    "Since yours and ShinRa's goals are combined at this time I will authorise continued growth on that body. I assume you have no qualms about being ShinRa's General again? The war with Wutai has started again. There should be plenty of blood for you." It seemed Reeve was aware of Jenova's destructive desires and was only too happy to entertain them.

    "I _do_ like the way you think!" Jenova said delightedly. "But just so it's easier for your troops I'll act a bit more like Cloud Strife. They do seem to react more to a 'human' face."

    "Sheep like to believe they are following their own," Reeve murmured. "As for Sephiroth," he began again, turning towards the tank. "We haven't made any definite decisions. I've got a couple of questions for him but after that..." Reeve shrugged. "We don't want to be hasty."

    Reeve walked towards the tank. Sephiroth just glared back at him but apart from that he did nothing, betrayed no emotion. "This has been an interesting day," Reeve said, looking up at him. "I would never have believed _you_ would have had a relationship with anyone, much less someone who wasn't Mako enhanced." Reeve smiled coldly trying to decide on a suitable punishment. After a few moments he shrugged again, he couldn't change the past and now he had the opportunity to fix it and this time he would be holding the reins of power.

    "I'm not going to dwell on the past, I'm more interested in the present so first I must thank you for returning Cloud's sword to us." Reeve waved his hand and the Turks exited briefly before returning with the Masamune. They placed it on one of the benches before they returned to guarding positions. Just like them, be inconspicuous and hope you don't get killed.

    "I'll be needing that," Cloud's voice said, almost completely without any trace of Jenova. She was making good on her word.

    "Now to the questions. You don't have to answer Sephiroth but we'll get the answer one way or another. That summon materia," he pointed. "What is it and where did you get it?"

    "I had that Summon Materia?" Sephiroth questioned. "Why would I hold a materia that doesn't work?"

    "Why indeed?" Reeve questioned. "But it was found on you after you were defeated. So where did you get it?"

    Sephiroth looked over at the red crystal. Found on him? _Blue eyes, incredible spiky hair...His vision turning red... not enough air in his lungs, an incredible electric burning... and a name he could not utter._ "Cloud," Sephiroth whispered and then looked down it Reeve with narrowed eyes, fighting the urge to laugh. He failed and burst out with a delighted peel.

    Both Reeve and Jenova looked at him curiously, wondering if _he_ had finally snapped.

    _Aeris... smiling as the Masamune slid through her. Cloud's eyes glowing with Jenova's joy... Aeris' last whispered message "I promise you... you will not be alone... You will **never** be alone..."_ "I thought she meant Tifa," Sephiroth murmured but he had never felt anything more than a brotherly affection for the woman. "She could have meant herself but there are limits to what a Cetera can do... But she didn't mean that at all..." Sephiroth laughed again before fixing Reeve with his emerald gaze.

    "That Summon Materia?" He didn't bother hide the joy in his voice. "It feels like 'Knights of the Round' doesn't it?" he questioned. "But it isn't. That materia is dead as well. It doesn't actually have a name but I guess I would call it 'Lost Knight'. It is the means to defeat both of you and the best part is, no matter how powerful you become neither of you will ever be able to use it."

    Rude sniggered but was silenced by Reeve's glare. The man looked back at the Materia. "And you are saying that you or your friends can activate it? I wouldn't get my hopes up, Sephiroth. That idiot Yuffie is too busy to bother with you. ShinRa collected Tifa and Nanaki this morning. They are, even now being transported here. Barret accepted our invitation."

    "Invitation?" Sephiroth snarled. "What the _hell_ did you threaten to do?"

    Reeve shrugged. "Nothing. I merely indicated that it would be better for Marlene if the former Leader of Avalanche came to us before we had him arrested."

    " _You bastard!_ "

    "One does what one has to to ensure peace and he is responsible for the destruction of Midgar Reactor #1 and all the lives that terrorist incident claimed. ShinRa does not allow terrorists to remain unpunished."

    "So what's your punishment for the Plate?"

    Reeve ignored the question. "And the _Highwind_ is about to return to its rightful owners," he continued before turning and walking away. "No one is going to rescue you Sephiroth and you are not going to escape. If we can't do it then no one is going to activate 'the means to defeat us' and it will be just another worthless materia that does nothing." He reached the door before looking back. "Rest well Sephiroth, you are going to be there for a very _long_ time. The list of tests I had to authorise this morning was quite extensive." With that he was gone.

    The Turks paused only to mockingly wave goodbye before they followed. As soon as they vanished the scientists and troops burst into action, cleaning up the dead and a few of them politely and hesitantly asked Jenova to co-operate with them. For the moment Sephiroth was ignored, a prisoner who could wait until later, who could do nothing to stop them.

    Sephiroth looked back at the movement around him, keeping his face blank. _Cloud, help me._ He spared a glance for Jenova where she stood wearing Cloud's body, talking with his voice, moving with his gestures. _That's **not** Cloud!_ he berated himself. _Cloud, help me. Let me see you when I sleep._

To be Continued...


	5. Feelings

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 4 - Feelings

    Cloud looked out at the snow that was gently falling. He figured Reeve would have expected him to run to Nibelheim, or try to lose himself in the crowds of the Gold Saucer or NEO Midgar but he had done no such thing. There were places in this world Reeve didn't know about and the Chocobo Sage was more than happy to bunk him _and_ his gold chocobo down for a while. Reeve didn't know about him, he'd never come and the others were unlikely to suggest it as a place he could hide. It was perfect and the company of the Chocobo Sage gave him plenty of opportunity to sit and think and try to work his way through the tangled mess of events and the even more tangled mess of his emotions.

    The events were easy really. Reeve considered him a threat and so either wanted him on side or out of the way. At the moment, the 'out of the way' option was Reeve's preference. _Which means I probably should do everything in my power to be in the way._ Cloud had not so vehemently opposed ShinRa to see it rise again with a new head. _I won't let it be a hydra._

So his course of action there was easy. Hit ShinRa as hard and as fast as he could without getting caught. Show Reeve exactly why he was a threat. Perhaps he'd even go to Wutai and offer Lord Godo a hand if the war really restarted. _I may never have **really** been a SOLDIER but I do know the ShinRa procedures and I **do** have the power of one._ Cloud's blue eyes glittered viciously at those thoughts.

    _So what do I do about Tifa and the rest? There is no way they are going to sit around quietly and let this happen... What do I feel about them?_ Cloud saw the faces of his friends in his mind's eye.

    Yuffie. The indomitably happy ninja girl was easy. She was a good friend, a skillful fighter. Someone he could rely on if he kept a close watch on his materia. If Reeve intended to come against him she would help until she was called back to Wutai. She was open like that, her loyalties and agenda's clear. A good friend, nothing more, nothing less.

    Barret. The ex-leader of Avalanche had changed from the man who would stop at nothing to see ShinRa fall. _His world got bigger,_ Cloud thought. Barret could still be rash and impulsive, ready to leap into action at the slightest hint of wrong doing but he could now also see the bigger picture, see the necessary evil ShinRa was, as long as they were changing, as long as they did not continue to be the corporation of old, raping the Planet for their own gain. _But if Reeve is truly keeping ShinRa in the past, will he fight or will his concern for Marlene temper his actions?_ Seen from some angles Barret's concern for his child could be a weakness but Cloud didn't consider it such. _It keeps him human, reminds him what is important in life._ Barret had been a terrorist but ShinRa had committed similar acts. The only difference was Barret felt guilt.

    _He is a friend,_ Cloud decided. _And he will fight if he knows Marlene is safe._

Nanaki. The great cat of Cosmo Canyon and its hereditary protector from the Gi. Cloud's feelings for him were also clear. He is a friend, someone I can go to for advice, even if he doesn't consider himself wise. Cloud closed his eyes. The last few times he'd spoken to the great cat by PHS he had been distracted, leading the battle against an upsurgent Gi. But he hadn't wanted help and Cloud, Cid and Vincent had respected that. _I think he would be too busy to fight, providing ShinRa did not threaten the Canyon and I don't think they'd be dumb enough to do that. It's too much considered an almost holy place._

    Cloud opened his eyes, looking back out at the snow. The dark could be comforting but now was not the time, especially when a different dark was closing in.

    Cid. The pilot would hate this weather. The snow would clog the engines and the cold would make the craft unresponsive to the helm. Cloud could hear him cursing and could almost see the man's gruff smile and ever-present cigarette. He hoped they were all right. Cloud had been to the world above and below with the man and he deserved better than to be ShinRa's prisoner. And Shera... She knew about Cid and Vincent but there was a sparkle in her eye that said she knew more than she was letting on. She was still waiting for Cid to come home, knowing, rightfully so that she still had a place in his heart. _Assuming he isn't captured Cid will fight. I guess that after Reeves effort he'll be more than happy to fight ShinRa again._ Cloud sighed. If he was seeking attachment to this world he had not yet found it. Cid was still just a friend, a very good friend and while it would ache to leave him, leave all of them it was a pain Cloud could handle if the alternative was truly as good as it seemed.

    Vincent. The quiet ex-Turk was an enigma. He was seemingly emotionless, cold and determined to atone for his sins but in the past year Cloud had begun to see another side of him. Maybe not as much as Cid, he didn't want that, but he'd seen the occasional quiet smile and a subtle dark humor. He'd also seen one or two glances that he was fairly sure Vincent didn't know he'd seen directed at Cid and in them his eyes had been soft and open. Their crimson depths no longer shining the colour of blood but more like the deep red sky at sun rise. He had changed but in many ways Vincent had remained the same. _He will fight ShinRa. There were times I believe he was only looking for a reason but he is still nothing more than a friend._

Aeris. At her name Cloud's heart contracted. He couldn't think about the others without thinking about her, without thinking about... _I should have saved you. I should have been able to do **something!**_ The achingly beautiful Cetera flower girl had the potential to be so much more. _But I let you die..._

    ::Cloud! Stop this!:: The command rang, loud and clear through his mind. It always did when he started thinking about his failure. ::I had to die Cloud. There was no other way. I'm _so_ sorry I had to hurt you. I never meant it but I wanted you and the Planet to be happy. That couldn't happen if Jenova's Child won.::

    Cloud shook his head sadly. He had heard it before. Aeris' beautiful voice speaking only to him, telling him why it had to be so. It still hurt though. He had been confused about his feelings then and they had only crystallized into painful clarity as Sephiroth left. The brunette, with her wide green eyes and shy smile was more than a friend. She could have held him here, provided an anchor to this world.

    ::I want you to be happy.::

    Cloud closed his eyes briefly and answered a sad smile on his lips. _I know you do but I don't know how..._

Tifa. The brunette’s desires were so easy to read. She wanted to heal his pain by providing him with a loving family by being his wife and presumably creating lots of little Tifa's and Cloud's. _Tifa... I don't... I can't..._ Even in his thoughts it was awkward but his feelings were clear. _I don't love you Tifa. Not like that and if we married you would eventually resent me._ There. He'd thought it but there still remained a problem.

    _Tifa will fight for me but I don't want her to fight thinking I will come to her. It's only fair if she knows the truth of the matter. Tifa, beloved **sister** , I don't want you to resent my love for another. I have told you but please... Please... **Please** see what you truly feel and what I truly feel..._

_What I truly feel..._

Sephiroth. Leader, betrayer, enemy, friend, lover.

    There was something there, something more than the abiding hatred for the man who in his world had destroyed his life. Even more than Vincent the man was an enigma and Cloud's feelings were ambivalent. A dark hatred and anger, hot and wild, still clawed at him, demanding to be _always_ associated with the name. _He destroyed your town, he killed your mother, he tried to kill you, Tifa and Zack. He was responsible for putting you through hell and he **used** you. He tried to control you, force you to do his bidding, tried to make **you** kill Aeris. He. Killed. Aeris. Murdered her. Remember his smile? He **enjoyed** it. Hate it, hate him. He doesn't deserve anything else._

But then there was the other image, the other smile so alike but beneath eyes that shone so differently. Eyes that shone having known the pain of loss, eyes that called to him, that wanted, needed him but did not try to force his compliance. Eyes and a voice that offered him protection, a new life and a new love if only he could just see the difference between the two.

    "Sephiroth," Cloud whispered, feeling the name roll off his tongue as he closed his eyes. The man's hauntingly beautiful image came to him. His image, the one splattered with blood, or the light, screaming as it shattered into a million pieces had been replaced by another.

    Sephiroth standing in knee high grass, a veil of sorrow clinging to him. His hair and clothes snapping in the brisk wind and the ever present Masamune slung at his side. He turned, and Cloud looked into glowing emerald eyes that begged him, needed him and whose sorrow could only be ended by him. Sephiroth raised his hand slightly, reaching out entreatingly and he spoke, his voice rich and smooth, yet full of longing, "Come to me..."

    Strength, protection, father, arrogance, desire, cruelty, safety, hatred, destruction, murderer, lover, demon, kindness, master, malice, freedom, capture, burden, evil, angel, rage, calm, pain, cherish, protect, adore, worship... _love._

::I guess that answers that.::

    Cloud paid his mental voice no heed. He was too busy trying to calm his ragged breathing and shivering body. He was covered in sweat. He could smell its acrid tang clinging to him. He staggered, struggling to stand as a wave of exhaustion hit him. Was the truth always so exhausting? And even now that he knew what could he do? That Sephiroth was in another dimension and he had no way of getting there. What was the good of loving the impossible?

    ::You should rest now. Solve one problem at a time.:: His mental voice was always wise but this time it did more than talk. It took over his trembling body and slowly walked towards where he had spread his blankets. ::In the morning,:: it said as he settled, ::we should probably go start annoying Reeve.::

    Cloud didn't hear anymore. He was asleep, a smile on his lips as he anticipated a dream meeting with Sephiroth.

    ::No one ever listens to me.::

~ * ~

    Cid looked around. He was in what Yuffie had dubbed the Board Room of the _Highwind._ It was plushly appointed but then it had been built at the height of ShinRa's power, and at the moment it was filled with friends. They sat around the table talking amongst themselves. It had been a while since they had gathered. Yuffie and Tifa were talking and occasionally laughing together. Nanaki and Vincent were locked in quiet conversation. The two of them were probably discussing something highly advanced and highly boring. Barret had his feet on the table and a scowl on his face. He didn't like being pulled away from Marlene for any reason.

    Cid sighed. While catching up with everyone was nice, this wasn't a pleasure jaunt. They had things to do. Valentine seemed to sense his mood because he rose purposefully and brought his clawed hand down on the table to call order. He looked around as silence feel and then spoke. "We haven't called you all together for fun."

    He was interrupted by Yuffie. "We're not _all_ together yet. Where's Cait and Cloud?" The girl had no idea what was happening but she would learn.

    "That is what we are going to discuss," Vincent informed her before Cid took over.

    "First of all has Reeve said anything to any of you regarding Cloud's disposition?" Cid asked but was met by blank stares. "I guess it was just us then," he murmured but obviously not quiet enough.

    Tifa looked at him sharply. "What happened to Cloud?" she gasped, those beautiful eyes wide with concern.

    Cid shook his head. He didn't know what had happened between Cloud and Tifa but it had resulted in the woman living in Cosmo Canyon when he knew she'd rather be with Cloud. The kid hadn't really shown any signs of distress, just a slight sadness but nothing to say he was pining for the girl the way she obviously was for him. _Poor girl... I guess her heart's set even if she knows it's hopeless. At least, I hope she knows, I hope that's why they separated because Cloud told her the truth._ He looked around again. "That's why we're here. To discuss what's happened to Cloud and what's happening with Reeve."

    _That_ got everyone's attention and for the next little while he and Vincent related what Reeve had told them and what Reeve had done.

    "Anyone know where Cloud would go?" The question was finally raised.

    :He could have gone anywhere," Nanaki said with what passed for a speculative look. "I cannot think of any one place he would consider safe or safer than anywhere else. He would not have gone to Nibelheim though." Nanaki seemed fixed on that point.

    Tifa nodded. "I know I wouldn't have. It's no longer home. Where would he have gone?" She questioned again quietly.

    Barret's eyes flashed. "Finding the kid ain't important," he said with sudden ferocity and confidence. "He'll find us. What's important now is getting Yuffie to warn her daddy about ShinRa's intentions. We don't want _that_ war restarted when we just got peace. It would make ShinRa that much stronger. After Wutai's been warned I say we go kick the crap out of Reeve for lying to us." Barret had been the Leader of Avalanche before Cloud had almost taken over by default. He did know how to make decisions. "And if Reeve doesn't listen to us, we replace him." His voice held a note of finality they weren't used to.

    The table felt silent as they considered his words. Barret growled. "This is _ShinRa_ we're dealing with here, not some nice organisation that you can talk to. They're gonna play rough so we have to be ready to play rougher. And if Reeve is now the head of ShinRa, then he's not Cait Sith anymore and maybe he never was. We're only going to get one chance at this, Cloud's escape has got them off guard, so I suggest we use that. We kick up a big enough ruckus, the kid'll find us."

    "I guess that's what we'll do then, after we drop Yuffie off."

    "Oww! Do I gotta?"

    "Yes," most of the other's answered her forcefully.

~ * ~

    Cloud awoke. ::Remember our conversation?::

    "Yeah, yeah. I remember." Everything came back to Cloud, plus a few new worries. How was he going to tell the others he was in love with Sephiroth but not the Sephiroth they knew but one who had killed _him_ to save _his_ world?

    ::Why tell them at all? They don't need to know and at them moment that's not important. Ready to go say 'Good morning' to Reeve?::

    "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go kick over ShinRa's rock and see what comes crawling out."

    ::That's my boy.::

~ * ~

    Getting to the east continent was easy. He may have a gold chocobo but it couldn't oceans but for a price the exploratory team who were returning to NEO Midgar with their newly excavated dinosaur were happy to give him a berth. It appeared archeologists would do anything for a price, except look into the present. He left them as they were beginning to unload the crates, almost continually shouting at the workers to be gentle.

    He didn't remain in ear shot for long. Gold chocobo's could really eat up the distance and soon he was approaching the familiar darkness, the still drained land that signaled NEO Midgar. He fidgeted a bit as his Chocobo approached the city fence, pulling out the key he'd dug for so long ago. It should still work, the fence on that side was still intact and ShinRa wasn't that obsessive about keeping people in or out. Yet. It was only a matter of time thought. He was right, the key did work.

    He left his chocobo at an Inn, paying handsomely for its lodging but even so he made it perfectly clear what would happen if the bird was not there when he got back. Blazing mako eyes could intimidate anyone and no one in Midgar or NEO Midgar ever crossed a SOLDIER if they knew what was good for them.

    _I'll go through the slums and then start climbing,_ Cloud thought to himself. It would be the fastest way of getting to the ShinRa building and Reeve wouldn't be expecting this. _I wasn't going to hide forever Reeve and I'm not going to let you win._

    He made it through the slums without a hassle and was about to begin climbing when the hair on the back of his neck rose... Trouble... But nothing manifested itself. Cloud glowered back into the shadows and the sense passed, probably a thief who had second thoughts.

    The climb itself was easy, although not the one he remembered. Rebuilding efforts had changed the lay of the land but it had also provided scaffolding which made his journey easier. It was certainly less fragrant than the route Cait had shown them. _Trust Reeve to know the bolt holes,_ Cloud thought as he approached the new ShinRa building. _But they're not going to help him now._

He'd nearly gotten to the doors of the building when he was interrupted.

    "Going somewhere Strife?" The voice was familiar and he already knew the scene that would await him when he turned. "I don't think you have an appointment with the President."

    Turks - Rude, Reno and Elena.

    "I'll make myself one," he replied, reaching for the Ultima Weapon, already muttering a spell as Elena let the energy flicker through her fingers.

    "Let's finish this." The words were mutual.

To be Continued...


	6. Summoning

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 5 - Summoning

    Sephiroth jolted awake. He hadn't been talking to Cloud and so wasn't resentful of his current state. Besides which something was telling him that it was time to act. He peered around. It was night, or at least he thought it was and the lab was filled with gloom. Light was provided by random sources meaning everything was black and white and fuzzy. There were two points of colour, one soft circle of pink light surrounding the summon materia and a halo of green around Cloud's tank. The body was being matured so for the moment Jenova was asleep.

    ::It's time,:: something whispered to him, so softly he couldn't identify the voice.

    But that was not important. It _was_ time. He had to act now, while the lab was empty. Sephiroth moved to the bottom of his tank and then, after another brief glance around closed his eyes and extended his senses. A slight frown creased his forehead as he concentrated. He hadn't used these particular abilities in a while. They were the power Jenova's cells gave him and he only hoped that his use of them did not wake her up but there was no other way.

    ::Move! Or it will be too late!:: There was no mistaking the urgency in the voice and brushing dimly through the back of Sephiroth's mind was the thought that he should recognise it, even through the whisper.

    _I'm moving, I'm moving,_ Sephiroth replied as he opened his eyes and stared intently at the locking mechanisms, willing them to open. Physically he braced himself for the sudden rush, the draining of the liquid, the burning cold it would bring and the pain as he expelled it from his lungs. That was the worst. Humans just weren't meant to breathe the liquid and getting rid of it always left his throat and lungs feeling bruised for days.

    With a soft click, the door sprung open with a spectacular spray of green liquid, splattering several work benches and generally flooding a small section of the lab. You were meant to drain these tanks before opening them.

    Sephiroth was pulled out with the liquid and eventually came to rest in a puddle and quivered, trying to suppress the shudders that racked his body, trying to remain silent even as he coughed and hacked and gagged as he expelled the liquid. After a little while, when he was sure he could move without falling, he rose and looked around again. Apart from a slightly glowing green slick that covered his section of the lab it didn't look like anything had changed. So far no one had noticed his escape. Cloud was still asleep, there were no klaxons blaring and no lights flashing. It was eerily quiet but also very suspicious. Surely they would have had some sort of trigger mechanism on the lock? Telekinesis was one ability he had been documented as having from the beginning.

    ::Use the time you've got then. Move!:: That voice almost shouted at him and this time it was hauntingly familiar. He should know it. ::Move!:: It yelled again, cutting off his thoughts.

    Sephiroth moved, paying no heed to the glowing trail he was leaving as he walked into the soft light created by the summon materia. He'd known what he had to do as soon as he woke up, as soon as Reeve had asked him about it. He reached out for it, whispering into the darkness, "No Reeve. I don't expect any of my friends to use it. I'm the only one who can." His hand closed over the red orb and he gasped in surprise as his vision went red. This wasn't what a summon was meant to do.

    He was looking at himself in the North Crater, Ultima Weapon held before him. His friends stood around him, their weapons similarly barred and spells flickering through their fingers as they waited for a firm target to unleash them on. Slowly, as if emerging from mist, a figure made its way towards them. They were armed, a long thin sword cut the air before them and he, Sephiroth could see that the figure was male as he came closer, was dressed in a blue ShinRa uniform that was, despite the passage of time, immaculate. Blonde hair jutted up in uncontrolled spikes. Cloud.

    He flicked his eyes over them and then smiled but it was like a predator and not the Cloud he knew. "So Sephiroth," he spoke. "You've come. Who are these?" With his free hand Cloud gestured towards Avalanche.

    "We're the ones who are going to kick your butt into eternity!" Barret snarled, his sentiments echoed by the others.

    Cloud laughed. He'd always been so confident. "That remains to be seen." Cloud turned his attention back to Sephiroth, giving him a look that was so questioning but so loving that spirit Sephiroth almost felt his heart break. It still hurt. "Can you do this?" Cloud asked him. "Can you really do this?"

    "Hold it together," Cid admonished, his eyes like flint, never leaving Cloud.

    "Well Sephiroth?" Cloud obviously wanted an answer. "Can you? Can you really drive your sword through me? You'll break your vow. You'll kill me when you promised to keep me safe."

    _No! This never happened!_ Spirit Sephiroth screamed at the vision. _Cloud never said this. He never... He never mentioned the vow. He called me 'his son.' It was only Jenova._

::Shut up and watch. This is a vision of what could have been.::

_No! I don't want to see it. This is what could have been, not what was._

::You have to see it, you have to know. This is still what could be if you don't stop Jenova. There is enough of Cloud still there, very deep for this to possibly happen. It is not all of Cloud, it is not the best part of Cloud but rather the body's memory of the soul that should inhabit it. It is not Cloud but it would behave like a twisted version Cloud and so you must see this.::

    Reluctantly spirit Sephiroth looked back at the tableau being played out before him. He was a spirit watching the world, watching events so like the ones he remembered but so different and there was nothing he could do to change it.

    Cloud had let several spells cast by Avalanche to hit him. His laughter could be heard within the dust they'd kicked up. "Please," he mocked them. "You don't think Wutai didn't try that?" He emerged from the dust, not a single point of hair out of place. "But it looks like I've missed one of them," he added, narrowed eyes focusing on Yuffie.

    A sudden sadistic smile flickered across his face. A smile Sephiroth had never seen, not even on Jenova. _No!_ Dread filled him. He _knew_ what was going to happen. _Yuffie, run!_ Spirit Sephiroth tried to scream, forgetting he was only here as a watcher and that physically he was back in the lab and could do nothing to change this. _Run, now!_

Cloud spoke again, addressing only Yuffie. "It's customary to exchange name and rank before a battle," he said in a polite civilised tone. "My name is Cloud Strife. I am ShinRa's General," he completed the formula.

    Yuffie looked back in disbelief before she struck a pose. "Ya right," she said. "I gotta know who I beat so I can claim the right victory. The name's Yuffie Kisaragi. I'm the Heir to Wutai," she proclaimed grandly.

    "Ah... Lord Godo's daughter," Cloud murmured. "So like your mother," he added jumping towards her, his eyes grinning at her stupidity. She'd left herself open naming herself. The ninja girl never had a chance. The only mercy was that it was quick. The Masamune slid cleanly through her left breast and she only had time to stare dumbly down at it, as a thin trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth. Cloud jumped back, not giving Tifa or Barret a chance to react and once the deadly support of his sword was gone, Yuffie collapsed, dead, into a small graceless heap.

    "Not this victory, my child. Not for a thousand years."

    Cloud's words finally sparked some response from the vision's Sephiroth. "Cloud, don't do this. This isn't you. Don't let Jenova win."

    "Sephiroth, what's going on?" Cid questioned. He was suspicious. There was more to this fight than he knew about and he didn't like it.

    "'Don't let Jenova win'?" Cloud questioned Sephiroth, ignoring Cid. "I haven't let her win. I won't let her win. And this will soon be over. There is just one more thing I need to take care of personally." Cloud's eyes fell on Tifa.

    Even while he was speaking, he was fighting. They were all fighting. Spells were being hurled back and forth and there was the occasional clang as the Masamune locked with the weapons of his friends. Except for Yuffie the fight at least was how Sephiroth remembered it but as Cloud turned his attention to Tifa he felt his stomach sink. After Yuffie he didn't think it was possible. He was wrong. Of all the people of Avalanche Cloud would have something with Tifa. They grew up together.

    _No, Cloud. No!_ Spirit Sephiroth screamed as the vision's Sephiroth ran forward to attack Cloud. Cloud countered the attacks easily. He was not enraged, he was calm and logical in his fight, and he slowly drove Sephiroth back, before he once again turned back to Tifa.

    "Tifa, my dear neighbour," he said in a voice that could have melted rock.

    "Cloud," she responded but her voice betrayed her confusion. Why was he talking to her? They had been neighbour’s so long ago.

    "Do you remember that day?"

    "Which day would that be?" She managed to maintain her composure. She was even trying to take Cait's share of attacking so that he could cast Life on the ninja. Yuffie was only dead if they couldn't get that spell cast and she wasn't about to let that happen. The girl, despite everything, was a friend. Besides which, no matter what he looked like, what he said, this wasn't Cloud. It was only a shell for something else.

    "The day your mother died, of course. Which other day would I talk about? The day I left? That hardly holds emotion. The other one is so much more intense."

    "What about it then?" She didn't know where this was going and everything she'd learnt about Cloud since he left indicated that she wouldn't like it. This was _not_ the Cloud who'd left Nibelheim. This was not the one she knew.

    "You remember, don't you, the way you climbed the mountain to see if your mother was there, the way I followed you when everyone else deserted you?"

    "Yeah, I remember." Tifa was even more confused. These were things that had happened a long time ago. They were unpleasant but they weren't going to distract her.

    "You'll understand soon Tifa," Cloud answered her unspoken questions indirectly as he flung a Flare spell towards Cait Sith, disrupting the Life spell the mog was casting. "You fell didn't you? At the Mt Nibel bridge you fell. I fell too but I didn't hurt myself, not then. My injuries came from someone else, didn't they?" The look he directed at her demanded an answer.

    "I was in a coma for seven days," Tifa answered him. "I don't..." She frowned, readying an Ice 3 spell. "I don't remember." She cast it.

    Cloud brushed the spell aside, or rather neutralised it with fire but that was nothing compared to his eyes. "But you _do_ remember. You always remembered and that's what I want to know about. Why? Why didn't you tell them when you woke up what really happened, what really caused your injuries? I would still have been injured, I know but the truth would have been nice. Why did you let them continue to believe it was me?"

    "I... Cloud... We were just kids!" Tifa managed to stammer.

    "Old enough to know the consequences of truth. Or were you afraid? Why did you let them?" Cloud wasn't going to let the matter rest.

    "Cloud... I... I couldn't. I just couldn't," Tifa said finally, tears streaming down her face. "Father was so _angry_ , he wouldn't listen and I was afraid. I couldn't and it was you. I just _couldn't_. And after everything there never was the time."

    "It was just me? The Cloud you could ignore. The Cloud you could make suffer because it was easier than taking responsibility for yourself. I followed _you,_ Tifa. I _trusted_ you... But that's all gone now and it's time for you to pay the price." Cloud jumped forward, slipping between Barret and Sephiroth to attack her.

    He was brutally direct but at the same time he made it agonisingly slow. The Masamune flicked through several precise stokes. A deep cut in each arm before he jumped to the side and flicked his sword at her ankles. Hamstrung she screamed and fell to her knees. Spirit Sephiroth watched. He could do nothing more. He couldn't blame her companions for not helping her, Cloud was that fast. Tifa did manage to counter attack, a bolt of lightning springing directly from her into Cloud but he ignored it, or rather ignored the damage it did to him as he placed one more cut on her body before he jumped back barely missing deadly cuts from the visions Sephiroth and Nanaki.

    Cloud resumed his place in front of them, a cold glee in his eyes. Tifa... Tifa had ignored the wounds inflicted upon her arms for the greater pain and was clutching her belly. But there was nothing she could do against the deadly presicion of that final stroke and already her shirt was stained red. With a strangled gurgling cry she fell, blood pouring from her mouth, trickling out of her nose and worse falling from her midsection. Her eyes locked on Cloud in one last silent appeal but he simply looked back no pity, no mercy in his gaze. "You had the chance, you did not take it."

    "Cloud please!" The vision's Sephiroth still pleaded with Cloud. "Don't make me do this to you," he continued, his green eyes taking on a familar hardness. "It's only your body, I know, but it will still hurt. It isn't you I kill, it's Jenova."

    _Finally!_ Spirit Sephiroth thought. _I finally worked it out!_

"Isn't me?" Cloud questioned, disbelief in his tone. Black energy was beginning to form around him even as fought the combined attack of Avalanche. "You never did know _me_ , not really." The voice was all Cloud's now and sounded slightly regretful. "You only saw what you wanted to see." Cloud discarded the blood slicked Masamune as the energy around him became a shield. He took a step forward, the Black Materia in hand. "But I forgive you," Cloud said, looking only at the vision's Sephiroth and continuing to walk forward. "You offered me love and you didn't let me be alone. I won't ever let you be alone," Cloud added as he reached the vision's Sephiroth.

    With one swift move Cloud embraced him, dodging through his defenses and pulling him through the barrier and holding him close. The Ultima Weapon fell uselessly to the ground. "I won't ever let you be alone again." The black energy flared and even spirit Sephiroth felt the entire planet scream as Meteor fell.

    _NO!_ Spirit Sephiroth screamed. _That didn't happen! It didn't happen._ He came back to himself in a rush, gasping for breath and shivering in the lab.

    ::But it could have happened and it _could_ still happen.::

    "So?" Sephiroth was too busy remembering how to breath to ask anything really coherent.

    ::You have to stop it. You have to call the only one who can. Call him. Call him to this world before the events on his take him away.::

    "Cloud?!" Sephiroth was instantly worried. That didn't sound good. _I don't want to lose you again,_ he shivered. " _Cloud!_ " The materia in his hand pulsed and sent out tendrils of red energy that locked onto his aura. Sephiroth gasped but did nothing to stop it as he felt his energy drain away, into the materia. _Cloud. Come to me... I promise I will keep you safe. Cloud!_

He was surrounded by grass, the wind was blowing, whipping his hair and snapping his clothing. Cloud stood before him, just out of reach looking at him with calm blue eyes. Sephiroth extended his hand, not bothering to hide his desire, his want, his _need_ but he would not force him. "Cloud, come to me," he whispered. He smiled as Cloud began to lift his hand, ready to take his, ready to share his desire.

    **_PAIN._**

    Sephiroth screamed as the world shattered around him. He had a glimpse of red shards flying everywhere before he fell, curling up, shaking in pain, darkness threatening his vision. It took him a minute to remember how to breath again and it was all he could do to lie there, sucking in huge lungfuls of air as the pain subsided. His vision cleared and he found himself looking into the barrels of several guns. He was surrounded. Sephiroth sighed and sat up slowly before he gasped, a wave of draining dizziness hitting him. His power was still draining away and his hands were streaming blood from several minor wounds the crystal shards of materia had caused.

    Cloud looked over at him from his tank. "I don't know what you were doing, my son," Jenova's voice said. "However you had activated that materia but I have no interest in seeing this 'Lost Knight.' The battle is won, the materia is gone but do you know what happens to the summoned whose materia are destroyed mid way through summoning?" Jenova paused, waiting for an answer. When nothing came she continued. "They die. Ripped apart from within. Whatever it was Sephiroth, you just killed it."

    "I... killed..." Blue eyes, glazed and dead. The stars reflected dully. A trickle of blood running to his chin. The spikes of hair drooping. " _Killed_... _I..._ **_NO!_** " Sephiroth screamed again as the darkness closed in.

~ * ~

    Cloud hid himself behind the Ultima Weapon's blade as a barrage of spells hit. He guessed the Turks were still pissed about those comets. He got a Regen spell cast upon himself and flung a Quake spell blindly from his makeshift cover. He could let them have it all one way.

    They really mean business he reflected as a Fire spell sent heat waves around him. They didn't even stop to talk. There was a flash of lightning that didn't feel like magic. "Hey Reno! You still using that thing?" Cloud shouted. "Reeve cut your budget, did he?" If he could get them talking Elena was almost certain to blurt something out and right now he could use a lock on Reeves location.

    "Shut up!" Reno said, directing a look at Elena.

    Cloud grinned. So they did know something. Now to beat it out of them. He rolled around the blade, gripping the hilt of his weapon and jumped towards them. He directed a few swipes at each of them but they were wary and jumped away.

    "Why don't you make this easy on yourself and just give up Strife?" Elena asked, trying to line up a lightning spell on him.

    "Make what easy? I was happily living there. It was Reeve and you idiots who attacked me! And now I'm simply trying to see the sights of NEO Midgar and again you're getting in my way."

    "You're a security risk to ShinRa and you don't even know it, Jenova's Puppet," Reno said, trying to angle around him but also cutting off whatever Elena was going to say.

    Cloud blinked. "What did you say?" He asked slowly, carefully, sure he had heard wrong.

    "I said Je-no-va's Pup-pet," Reno repeated grinning. "And you don't even know it."

    Cloud closed his eyes as all three Turks fell back. This was apparently in their plan. Get him so angry he could not defend himself or place the doubt so that he would surrender himself.

    Memories flooded Cloud. Five years of incredible pain with _her_ sense in the background. Always she'd watched him, tying the strings to make him hers. Midgar Reactor #1, pain but a warning given. Nothing else just the warning. The Temple, that pain again but this time the strings were pulled and he couldn't fight, could only watch as his body gave Sephiroth the Black Materia they'd struggled so hard to get. The Altar. More pain than all the times before and this time the strings were pulled and then jerked in a desperate frustration as he cut some free. _But I wasn't fast enough. I should have known She was there, waiting, just in case._ The North Crater and all he had done, all the freedom was undone and the strings were tied tighter. But he'd broken free, after that, he'd cut all the strings, landing the final blow on the Sephiroth that was Jenova's. He'd cut that last string. There was _no_ way he was still Jenova's. How dare they even suggest it? How dare they?

    _No, it's Reeve._ The logic was simple. Reeve was going to pay for even suggesting it but first these idiotic Turks were going to pay. they were going to _wish_ he was Jenova's because then he'd be merciful. ::I'll handle this. I'll show them what Jenova's Puppet can really do.:: Cloud's eyes opened, twin pools of icy blue rage and his lips bore a chilling half smile. The air around him snapped, alive with the spells he was casting and the Ultima Weapon had a Flare corona. They were going to pay.

~ * ~

    Reno took a half step back as the air around Strife became literally alive with power. And his sword! He'd seen and fought Strife often and the boy had almost always had a different weapon but none of them had radiated energy. And this one was radiating the explosive power of a Flare. He spared a glance for Rude. The man could absorb fire but at this level was it still even fire?

    _Reeve, you * &^%$#) liar! You said Strife had gotten better but you forgot to mention he was about 50 *&^%$#@ levels above us._ Reno really didn't need to use the yellow Sense materia that was in his hand. There was no way they were going to win. It wasn't luck that had brought Strife victory over Sephiroth as he'd assumed. It was sheer power. Sephiroth couldn't have stood against it and even if he was a power unto himself, Cloud probably equaled him.

    _I'll * &^%$#@ rip you apart myself Reeve,_ Reno thought, dodging and blocking spells for all he was worth. There was absolutely no thought to attack and the other Turks were similarly encumbered by Cloud's magic. Thankfully though, the blonde hadn't gone for his sword yet. _I don't think any of us would survive that but how the * &^% do we get away?_

    As Reno ducked and weaved, doing his best to ignore or treat the hits that got through there was no answer forth coming.

~ * ~

    Tifa ran. She didn't care that ShinRa would see her progress through Neo Midgar. That didn't matter. Cloud needed her. Cloud needed them. The other members of Avalanche pounded through the streets beside her. "Hurry," she panted, ignoring the pain in her side and the hoarse roughness of her throat. "Cloud needs us. If we don't get to him soon it will be too late. He needs us," she repeated as she raced around a corner, straight into hell.

    "Or maybe he doesn't," Barret wheezed from beside her, summarising the scene as he quickly wove a Wall around them.

    Cloud was there alright but so were the Turks. Cloud was in the centre and he wasn't moving as his three suited opponents ran around him forced to keep their distance. Cloud glowed red with power and the Ultima Weapon... It seemed alive and Tifa could feel its force from where she stood.

    "No," she shook her head. "Something's wrong. Cloud's strong but there's no way he could be doing this." If anything the light surrounding Cloud got brighter as he seemed to land a few solid hits on Rude.

    "It seems to me that the kid's doin' fine," Barret waved the Missing Score in the battles direction. "Heh! And he was meant to find us from the fracas!"

    "No. Tifa is correct. Something is wrong," Nanaki agreed, trying look at the battle. "The spells are coming from Cloud but he is not the one casting them. I'm not even sure Cloud is awake. He hasn't moved." Nanaki stopped and squinted at Cloud. "There's something else at work here. I don't... Ulp!"

    Nanaki fell silent. They all fell silent as the red light surrounding Cloud expanded, shooting upwards to become a pillar of ruby brilliance with Cloud standing... no hovering in the centre.

    "No..!" Tifa breathed, stepping forward. "This is too much like the Crater!"

    She would have said more but another being appeared in the light. A man, no... an angel. Long hair and feathers were about the only things that could be seen clearly. But the man was gesturing towards Cloud and he was responding, reaching out, his eyes looking into the others. There was the slightest, sweetest smile on his lips.

    " _CLOUD, LOOK OUT!_ " Tifa screamed, noticing too late as Reno lined up his weapon.

    It was almost a dream, except it was real. The bolt from the Electro-mag Rod flew true, straight for Cloud's should blades but it hit the pillar of light first. Cloud didn't even flinch as the bolt made the light flare, obscuring anyone within it but then it cracked. Deeper, more intense energy crackled it's way through the entire structure and the whole thing fell apart, falling to the ground like crystal shards that vanished with a mismatched but harmonious chime. The smell of ozone hung in the air.

    The only thing that remained was the broken Ultima Weapon and a single white feather, stained red that floated through the air, coming to rest on its shattered remains.

    Cloud Strife was gone.

To be Continued...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't actually dislike Tifa or Yuffie any more than any of the other characters. It's just that initially I was going to have Cloud kill everyone one by one until Sephiroth was alone but I decided that would take too long. By then Yuffie was dead so I didn't change that. But Tifa, Cloud would have issues with Tifa. He almost had to so that's why she also got his personal attention.


	7. Avalanche

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 6 - Avalanche

    "You murderers!" Tifa screamed, enraged and grief-stricken. Her emotions played across her face but her eyes burned with an anger fueled by grief. The materia in the Premium Heart reacted to her emotions and the raw jolt of power she sent coursing into them. They all glowed, giving her a set of deadly gem like bracelets she had more than enough experience to know how to use. She just couldn't decide which spell to cast first. That she wanted to wipe them from existence was taken as given but the question was on how much she wanted them to suffer first. "You killed him!"

    The Turks, who had lately been cowering from Cloud, cowered now from Tifa. Behind her, taking flank was the rest of Avalanche. They didn't know exactly what had happened but something had taken Cloud away and the Turks were the obvious choice. And even if they hadn't done anything, they had been engaged in battle and were between them and Reeve.

    "It wasn't us!" Elena squeaked. Cloud's sudden power had terrified her and even though she was thankful he had vanished, she had no desire to be beaten by another power for something she wasn't responsible for.

    "You think we care?" Barret asked, taking a long sighting off the Missing Score. "Ya got two choices," he told her. "Either you fight and we beat you up for what ya did to Cloud then we go do the same to Reeve or ya surrender and we beat ya up for what ya done to Cloud, then go do the same to Reeve."

    "What's the difference?" She asked in all seriousness.

    It took Barret an instant to realise she _was_ serious. He grinned before he answered. "We might take it a little easier on ya if ya surrender."

    "Elena, don't be stupid," Reno snapped. Both he and Rude had gathered themselves in front of the ShinRa building but as far away from Avalanche as they could. He looked over the assembled terrorists. "Contrary to whatever you may want to believe, this weapon," he tapped the Electro-mag Rod in his hand, "is not strong enough to have killed your precious Cloud Strife. It would have stunned him but not killed him. Furthermore we are not in the habit of making our opponents vanish, or of doing that ourselves. It's very bad form. But since we were not engaged with you, I bid you good day." With that Reno stalked around a conveniently placed monument to Rufus ShinRa and moved into an escape hatch he wasn't supposed to know about. Rude and Elena followed and Elena even remembered to seal the hatch behind her.

    For the most part, after her initial out burst Tifa had ignored the Turks and had made her way, step by trembling step to the broken remains of the Ultima Weapon. Once there her legs had given out and with a wail of grief she had fallen to her knees and gathered the hilt of the weapon to her breast, sobbing Cloud's name.

    "Tifa... I..." Barret really didn't know what to say as he moved to her side. The rest of their friends followed. What did you say to a woman who has just seen the man she loves, but who did not return her love, killed when you couldn't even be sure that he was dead, when you weren't even sure what had happened and there was no body to prove or disprove anything? When the only things that did remain was a weapon that was supposed to be unbreakable and a feather that was stained in blood?

    "Miss Lockheart," Vincent seemed as unemotional and uncaring as always. "While we share your concern, there is no evidence that Cloud is dead. And despite what may have happened this is the best opportunity we will have to see Reeve. _He_ may be able to shed some light on the matter."

    Tifa made some move to answer but it was Nanaki who interrupted her with an urgent call. "Wait!" He was sniffing the air experimentally. "There's something not right here." The big cat slowly padded his way to Tifa's side and carefully sniffed at the Ultima Weapon. The quills of the feather moved gently. "That's not..." he began, a look of astonishment on his face. "That's not Cloud's blood," he said finally. "But..." There was a note in his voice that did not encourage hope.

    "But what?" Cid growled, biting on his cigarette.

    "But this is impossible," Nanaki said through clenched teeth, the fur on his neck rising. "That's not Cloud's blood," he repeated, indicating the feather. "But if I didn't know better I'd say it was Sephiroth's."

    " _SEPHIROTH'S!_ "

    Even Tifa was surprised enough to look up.

    "That's impossible!"

    "I know it is," Nanaki growled angrily. "But that blood is Sephiroth's. I wouldn't make a mistake with this!"

    It was Vincent who eventually cut through the impending argument. "It's one more thing we must ask Reeve about. But we must also move now, before ShinRa positions their troops." He gestured towards the unguarded doors of the building as he spoke.

    Tifa looked up and slowly rose to her feet, still holding the Ultima Weapon's hilt. The great blade had been reduced to a short jagged dagger, one she brandished, as her eyes flashed dangerously. "Let's go! I'll make him beg for mercy!" She stormed towards the doors, followed by the rest.

    "Tifa, wait for us!" Barret called. He didn't want her getting lost in the maze of the building.

    "Besides which, we should get the materia from the blade. They will be helpful against Reeve. I doubt he'll just agree with us."

    Tifa nodded slightly, looking down at the weapon's hilt. Even if she used it on Reeve, she couldn't handle _all_ the extra materia. It was better to share them. "They... They're gone!" She stammered. The linked slots where the hilt joined the blade were empty. "Cloud had materia in this, didn't he?"

    "Of course he did! He had the Added Cut in there!" Cid said. "And I know the weapon was armed when Reeve visited. He used Comet on the Turks."

    "Well, they aren't here now."

    Vincent sighed. At this rate, they'd never get to see Reeve and he wasn't about to let the man get away but was not arrogant enough to think he could penetrate the building alone. "It is one more thing we can ask Reeve about but now I really suggest we move. We have wasted too much time here already." With that he strode past Tifa into the building's foyer.

~ * ~

    "That's the last," Tifa said with some of her usual vigor as she dropped a red uniformed officer. She turned towards the large wooden doors. "And Reeve's next," she purred placing a kick in their centre, sending them flying open.

    The office inside was flooded with sunlight although the glass in the windows filtered the heat, helping to keep the room at a comfortable temperature. A large desk was in front of them but the chair behind that desk was ominously pointed away from them. Classical music played softly over the room’s internal speakers. A glass filled with amber fluid was on the desk.

    "Please, Tifa, Avalanche, come in," Reeve's voice said. "The door was open though." Reeve spun the chair around to face them. "Make yourselves comfortable," he gestured towards several chairs and a mat which were arrayed in front of the desk. His eyes flickered over Vincent and Cid. "I guess you want an explanation," he surmised, a thin smile on his lips.

    Barret leveled the Missing Score and Tifa brandished what was left of the Ultima Weapon at him. "Nice try, Reeve, but it ain't going to save you." The scene Reeve had displayed had confirmed their fears. "You been taking lessons from ShinRa?" The whole thing was very reminiscent of ShinRa Senior. Lull you enemies with feigned friendship and then stab them in the back, if you couldn't pay them off.

    "Whatever you may think, I am doing this for the greater good. I have not lied to you. I may not have been there in the flesh but we have been through too much together for me to be anything less than honest. Let me show you something now, and you can draw your own conclusions on Cloud's connection to Sephiroth; continued or otherwise." Reeve pressed a small button on his desk, activating a display system.

    "What the hell?"

    A screen on the wall of the office lit up. It showed the entrance courtyard to the ShinRa building, as it had been a short while ago. Cloud was locked in battle against the Turks.

    "Reeve, this ain't no explanation."

    "Just watch," Reeve admonished, flicking the fast forward. "It will make sense soon."

    The display changed and the red pillar of light once again enveloped Cloud. Reeve paused the image and rose, walking around his desk to stand before the screen. "This is what I want you to see," he said pointing. "See here, in the light with Cloud, there's someone else." Reeve indicated towards the silhouette. It was obvious and they had all seen it before at the time. The wings though, this time were even clearer.

    "And this proves?"

    "This is just the most recent piece of evidence," Reeve continued reasonably as his computer outlined the person. "What I want you to see is how this matches up with our data base." The picture vanished, leaving only the outline of the man traced out. Beside it photographs began flicking, running through what appeared to be hundreds of people. The progression stopped on one hauntingly familiar face. Silver hair, green eyes, and aquiline nose. Sephiroth.

    "What the..?"

    "Watch!"

    The image turned, moving through portrait to profile and as it shifted the outline generated earlier moved, hovering over the shifting image until the image and the outline became one. A small number blinked 99% in the corner of the new image.

    "You're not suggesting..?"

    "I'm not suggesting anything. I'm asking you to draw your own conclusions and I assure you, no other profile matches as well. Remember also what Sephiroth said to Cloud at the Temple: 'I am always by your side.' _Look_ at what happened. Cloud was fighting the Turks but during the fight he lost control and was on the verge of killing them, and again I hasten to assure you that he was. You saw that for yourselves. When that red light appeared around him, he disappeared, _with_ Sephiroth." Reeve looked around at his former comrades.

    Cid had a doubtful expression. Nanaki looked considering. Vincent was as unfazed as always. Reeve made a mental note to pay attention to him. He was just as likely to take independent action as say something. Tifa had two tears welling up in her eyes and Barret... _This is not good._ Barret was expressionless. His craggy features showed neither anger, doubt nor disbelief and on a man who let his emotions run freely their absolute lack was worrying.

    "So Reeve? This is all nice speculation but since none of us actually saw the kid leave with Sephiroth, it's not proof. Whatever was in there with the kid was way too vague and this was recent, you've been sayin' the kid's Jenova's for a while. Whatcha basing that off?" Barret's voice was soft and considered, nothing at all like his usual boisterousness.

    Nanaki and Vincent nodded their agreement while Tifa wiped away her tears to stare directly at Reeve. Cid also lost the quiet doubt that had been haunting his features. Once pointed out the silhouette did look a lot like Sephiroth and it had been a terrifying thing to contemplate. He liked the kid. He didn't want to have to hurt him, to have to believe Reeve, even if it was for the best. He owed him too much.

    "Well Reeve?"

    Reeve smiled coolly. Avalanche always did do things the hard way but he had more than enough evidence to convince them. Hojo's notes on Specimen C, while almost illegible, had been quite comprehensive. Especially when edited. "I'm basing my initial reaction from a complete and thorough reading of Hojo's notes. You may see the originals but I doubt they'd make much sense. I have a transcript though that you are quite free to read." As he spoke he moved back around his desk and pulled out several sheaf's of papers, flicking them across the table at his audience. The papers were true transcripts of selected sections of Hojo's notes and he did fully expect them to read them, even question him on them, just not immediately.

    It was Vincent who took the paper and began reading. The barest flicker of emotion crossed his face after a moment and the menacing aura he carried deepened as he raised his eyes to Reeves. "You stupid, half-literate excuse for a man!" he hissed quietly.

    The curse brought the attention of everyone.

    "You have no idea even how to read Hojo's notes," Vincent continued, eyes boring into Reeve. "The man was twisted but in his own way he was still a genius and you think he's just going to write out clearly what his experiments were all about?" Vincent's voice turned mocking but still full of quiet anger. "You haven’t broken the codes in his notes, have you?"

    Valentine didn't even pause. The answer was fairly evident. "You just assumed that whatever he scribbled down was the truth, laid out where any idiot could read it."

    Reeve finally managed to break in on Vincent's tirade. "We did run them through several code breakers and removed quite a bit of noise from them." Reeve was trying not to seem irritated by Vincent's accusations, although coming from him, in those words and with that much emotion they were startling. But he was sure they _had_ removed all of Hojo's code. He was sure of it. ::Of course you have.:: He looked directly at Valentine, questioningly, challenging him. "You are trying to say we have still left codes in, codes that are obscuring the truth?"

    "I'm not saying it, I'm telling you it!"

    "Then perhaps you would be so kind as to point them out."

    "There is only one Reeve but it is the most important," Vincent seemed calm again but the menace in his aura had not diminished. He looked down at the page, at one paragraph that had been highlighted on their copies and began to read.

> "The specimen only maintains the appearance of  
> their own personality when in reality they are  
> being Jenova's tool. They can be used as such but  
> several easily predicted scenarios such as  
> prolonged use or severe emotional strain will  
> stretch and may twist its conditioning but it will not  
> cause its conditioning to shatter. In this event,  
> if Specimen C's conditioning was destroyed  
> the remaining power would be controlled by  
> the physical cells of Jenova that are within  
> Specimen C's weak personality."

    "That's just what's written!"

    "Yes, I know. It's what he would have hoped to be true mixed with what was true. Why don't you read every second line?"

    It was Nanaki who read aloud what had just become obvious. His voice was crisp with his dictation. "Oh my..." he murmured as he re-read the rest of the page. Several rather disturbing notes became harmless and almost annoyed snippets detailing how Cloud had resisted Hojo's attempts to make him Jenova's perfect weapon. He knew his friend had gone through many struggles, he just hadn't thought that it could possibly be this deep.

    Simultaneously Tifa, Cid and Barret took action, each of them jumping up and leveling their respective weapons at Reeve. The man gulped. He'd never been personally into fighting. He'd always had Cait for that.

    "The penny's dropped, Reeve."

    "And it's time to pay the price."

    Nanaki belatedly bristled his fur, raising the Limited Moon bringing its blades up while Vincent drew the Death Penalty.

    Reeve looked back at them, eyes still calm before they narrowed and a voice which was not his own but was startling familiar, spoke. "Avalanche always did want to do it the hard way." He rose, his hair snaking out behind him and his eyes glowing.

    "Reeve..?"

    "I thought I told you. They took me somewhere," Reeve's voice spoke this time. "And this is what happened. This is one of Jenova's final strikes. You have to destroy it. You have to destroy me or I will destroy you and Cloud. You have to destroy Jenova."

    "But you won't be able to," Jenova spoke again as four spindly tentacles covered by exoskeleton ripped their way out of Reeve's back. His hair solidified into spikes and his eyes lost all human traces. His hands were curled into claws and dripped venom. His teeth grew pointed but beneath it all they could still see Reeve.

    "I'll admit," Jenova said, looking over at them. "Before I was alone or within your enemies and you could fight me easily. This body isn't as good as Strife's but it is still one of your friends. Can you destroy me? Can you destroy me and in destroying me, destroy the man?"

    A shot from the Death Penalty rang out, almost deafeningly loud in the confined space. The bullet lodged in Reeve's shoulder as Jenova twisted away from the killing shot. "You heard the man," Vincent said calmly, cocking his weapon for a second shot. "We have to destroy Jenova." He fired again.

    "We have to destroy Jenova," Tifa murmured, jumping forward to land several blows on points she knew were vulnerable, at least on a human.

    The rest attacked, Nanaki pausing only to cover their group with several spells. This was Jenova, they needed all the protection they could get from the poisons she almost always exhibited. Barret pulled back after the first couple of passes and wove a Wall around them. He barely had it positioned before she hit them with a combination of tentacle strikes and lightning. The barrier flared and Barret grinned at her, shaking his head slightly before he attacked again, Nanaki's Regen spell already at work to take care of the damage.

    The fight was only a fight in the sense that it involved two opposing sides attacking each other. There was no finesse in their actions just the brute application of force. Any skill involved was to ensure the blows landed. But apart from that it came down to the side who could inflict the most amount of damage.

~ * ~

    Tifa trembled but managed to remain upright. After everything that had happened, the revelation that Reeve was Jenova was almost too much. She spared a glance for the others. They were all fighting well but she knew that, like her, they couldn't quite escape the fact that they were fighting Reeve. Well, maybe Vincent could. Reeve was one of their old friends, one of the team, no matter what had happened, what had been said and done, especially if Jenova was controlling him.

    'You have to destroy me or I will destroy you and Cloud.'

_Cloud..._

    'You have to destroy Jenova.'

    _Jenova._ The thing Cloud had fought against, that they had all fought against. The thing that kept taking away her friends, that had killed her father, destroyed her town. _Jenova._ The thing that was before them. The thing that just wouldn't die. _Jenova._

    "You're going to die Jenova, once and for all but you are going to suffer first. Suffer like you've made me suffer." Tifa narrowed her eyes, clenching her fists again with renewed determination, shifting the Ultima Weapon Dagger, thrusting it through her belt in a makeshift sheath. It was symbolic for her to carry the weapon Cloud used but it did hinder her movements and she was going to need all her strength for this. _Reeve, I know you'll forgive me because even you know this is the only way_.

    Jenova, of course had seen her preparing. There was no way she could hide that but there was nothing the monster could do to stop her. Tifa's entire body glowed and in the instant before she launched her attack, she closed her eyes gathering herself slightly before leaping forward. "Final Heaven Attack Special," she just had to murmur the words.

    The others fell back as she landed hit after hit. Beat Rush, Somersault, Waterkick, Meteordrive, Dolphin Blow, Meteor Strike. Jenova took them all. Tifa paused again slightly before launching the Final Heaven, allowing the energy to gather in her hands. She looked Jenova directly in the eye. "Take this bitch and once and for all, _die!_ " _Reeve, forgive me._

Jenova screamed under the barrage of blows and as the Final Heaven landed on the flesh she had made her own she felt her control slip. Even she wasn't immune to pain. She stumbled as Tifa drew back, each tentacle driving itself into the floor to keep her upright but it wasn't enough. The pain of her wounds drove her down, and she fell slowly on to her back and gasped for breath. "Stupid, weak body," she managed to wheeze before she lost control completely.

    "Tifa," Reeve croaked.

    Tifa whirled, looking back at the being, her friend she'd just attacked. "R... Reeve?"

    "Yeah, it's me. Now that Jenova's gone."

    "Nanaki! Cast a cure, quick!" Tifa almost shrieked.

    "No!" Reeve interrupted. "Don't. Jenova is still within me, just for the moment you have driven her back." He smiled weakly. "Tifa, don't be sad. It had to be done but I have to tell you, while Jenova did have plans for Cloud, she doesn't know where he is. She doesn't know what that red light was. It was nothing she planned and while it looked like Sephiroth it wasn't her son." Reeve grimaced and swallowed the blood that half filled his mouth. He didn't want Tifa to see him in pain. She'd only blame herself, even if this was necessary. "I don't... I don't think Jenova has anyone else waiting for you." Reeve looked around as everyone drew in slightly. At least none of them had started with any useless platitudes. "I have to thank you," he added. "I couldn't fight Jenova. I really don't know how Cloud did." A look of admiration crossed his features. "This is really for the best. After this ShinRa will fall apart. It's too old and too corrupted to change." Reeve closed his eyes. It felt better this way and a shadow of a smile crossed his face. "I'm really happy to have known you all," he whispered. "But you should go now. Being found with the dead mutated ShinRa President would not enhance your reputations. And Tifa... Follow your heart, even if it leads away from Cloud. You and he will be happier that way." Reeve sighed. It felt like he was falling asleep. _That would be good. I'm tired..._

    "Rest in peace, Reeve," Vincent murmured. "Jenova cannot touch you in the Promised Land."

    The rest of them closed their eyes briefly. What they had believed and what they had found were two different things. Jenova was everywhere you least expected her to be.

    Cid turned away. He was never one to get maudlin over his emotions. "Let's go. We've freed ShinRa and Reeve and hopefully finally gotten rid of Jenova. For now though, we need to regroup and consider where Cloud could be." He began walking towards the door. Slowly the others followed each briefly stopping at Reeve's side.

    They'd almost reached the remains of the door when an odd clicking started. "And where do you think you're going?" A soft female voice hissed.

    The entire team spun and stared at the abomination that had risen in Reeve's body. His body sagged but still managed to stand. The four tentacles that had emerged from his back were whipping around behind his body and he had impossibly grown an extra set of clawed arms. Jenova had lengthened the fangs and now they too dripped poison. "Now that Reeve has gone, I can make this body what I want," Jenova said, rearing up as what was left of Reeve's body was absorbed. Almost instantly a hard carapace appeared, covering the soft points and extra, wicked spikes grew.

    "Now, let us begin again." Red eyes glittered viciously.

    "Oh *&^%. Don't you ever die?" Cid clamped down on his cigarette, once again leveling the Venus Gospel at her. With his free hand he began petting his pockets. He had a MegaElixir somewhere, he was sure of it.

    Nanaki growled softly before recasting Regen and Haste and leaping into attack with claws and the Limited Moon. Barret glared, firing a round and casting Wall again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Tifa looked down at her hands. She was physically tired but she could still fight. The destructive power of the materia she held should enable her to hold her own in the battle. She didn't want to be a liability. Even so, she redrew the Ultima Weapon Dagger. She did know how to use a knife and right now it was probably the only way she'd be able to inflict a significant amount of damage physically. Vincent fought calmly, aiming and firing the Death Penalty at several points on Jenova. He'd tried aiming for her eyes but she'd dodged those shots almost contemptuously so he had shifted targets. He was amplifying each blast with a materia and eventually he knew he'd break through her armor to the soft tissue beneath it. It was only a matter of time.

    Jenova laughed and began flicking her tail in a whip like manner. One stroke for each of them. They managed to avoid most of the barbs and spike but a few drips of venomous poison slipped through. For the most part, the damage was taken care of by the Regen spell.

    The battle raged back and forth much like the one with Reeve had but there was something more sinister with this battle. The stakes were higher. This was Jenova, a being who wouldn't be content with killing them but who could and probably would reanimate their bodies in an attempt to cause further pain. And her most likely target would be Cloud Strife.

    "You know," Jenova hissed. "I don't think I need Strife anymore. The genetic material before me, should, when properly molded make a superior body. But I'd have to be sure. I've have to test it against him. That should be fun. I know he can fight me, can fight his enemies but could he fight you, especially if I come to him in the woman's form?" Jenova laughed as Tifa trembled with a sudden savage rage.

    "You leave him alone," she cried. "No matter what path I follow, I'm gonna protect him. I won't let you near him!" With a wild cry Tifa leapt forward, the Ultima Weapon Dagger held before her. She drove the blade into Jenova's chest and would have tried for another stab wound but she was beaten back by three tentacles, relinquishing the blade, half buried in Jenova's flesh.

    Tifa stumbled as she returned to her position. She would have dropped entirely with exhaustion but one thing gave her hope - Jenova's reaction to the blade piercing her flesh. The wound itself didn't seem to be discomforting Jenova but when she wrapped a tentacle around the hilt to withdraw the blade, she'd screamed and jerked back, inadvertently driving the weapon deeper.

    "That's it," Cid cried, jumping forward. "Tifa, you're a genius. Drive the Ultima Weapon in deeper," he added the instruction as he slammed the hilt of the Venus Gospel against the blade's hilt. He jumped back just as an almost fountain of acidic poison gushed through the air he had been occupying. Jenova grimaced as the weapon was driven deeper.

    Cid grinned. "Cloud's weapon was a part of a Weapon. A Weapon made by the Planet to destroy you. We might have destroyed that Weapon but it's still going to fulfil its purpose." He gloated at Jenova before Barret and Nanaki leapt forward.

    Nanaki occupied the tentacles while Barret drove straight for the hilt. He slammed into it at full force, driving the weapon in up to its hilt. It grated with a sickly grinding noise against her carapace.

    Jenova groaned, sets of pointed teeth clenching against the pain but she continued fighting, tentacles and barbs flying everywhere. She wasn't going down without a fight and she wasn't going down alone. They were exhausted. She should be able to take them with her. "You think that a part of a Weapon made by this measly Planet will be enough to kill me? I, who have endured for centuries beyond counting? I, who has power beyond your imagination? I, who could kill you as easily as you squash an insect. Do you really think?"

    "Go ahead, Jenova," Cid called, stepping forward slightly. "Go ahead. Kill me as easily as I squash a bug!"

    "Cid!" Tifa hissed, more than concerned.

    "It will be all right Tifa," he reassured her, not looking back. "The Jenova we know is dead. We helped kill it and even then that was the memory of what was. Jenova has been dead for a very long time. This here is just a mutated memory of what should have been." As he spoke he flicked the Venus Gospel almost like a bow, warning off Jenova's increasingly frantic slashes with her barbed tentacles and tail, moving forward all the time. "It's strong, yes, but it's no where near as strong as the original. This final left over memory is going to die."

    When he reached Jenova, he looked up into what passed for her face. "It's time for you to finally leave this world," he said, pulling a green Fire materia from the Venus Gospel. "Vincent, everyone, I'd appreciate it if you could cover me for a little bit."

    "Cover you!" Barret choked while Vincent seemingly calm fired the Death Penalty into the tentacles attacking Cid. "At that range?" Still, he did start, carefully, shooting at Jenova while Tifa and Nanaki leapt forward and to the side to harass her sides. They didn't want to get in Vincent or Barret's shooting line. They knew they wouldn't be hit but Cid couldn't be covered then.

    Cid planted the butt of the Venus Gospel beside him. It at least partially covered one side. In his hands he held a mastered Fire Materia. Seemingly slowly he reached out and gripped the slick hilt of the Ultima Weapon Dagger, drawing the blade back slightly to reveal its materia slots. With a delft move he slotted the Fire Materia in and pushed the blade back into Jenova's body. She was already straining against it and her eyes glittered with hatred, boring into him but despite her best attempts she could do nothing to stop him. "Good bye, Jenova. Have the good taste to stay dead this time," he said as he activated the Fire Materia, grabbed the Venus Gospel and threw himself backwards.

    For an instant it seemed like Cid's scrambling for distance was just a frantic futile act. Nothing happened. But then slowly, a few almost imperceptible wisps of smoke rose from the Ultima Weapon's hilt. Right before Jenova's entire form seemed to explode with raging green fire that was eating her from within. She screamed and whipped flame-covered tentacles around, slapping ineffectually at the rest of her body in a vain attempt to extinguish the fire.

    But this fire was not a materia's summoned elemental fire. This was the Planet's fire, cleansing itself once and for all. Within it, the Ultima Weapon could be seen glowing, channeling the Planet's power within her. Pure rage, pure mako, pure Lifestream, pure fire all channeled directly into her body.

    The heat was incredible but nothing else in the room caught - the carpet, the timber desk, the papers - nothing. The only thing burning was the screaming form of Jenova.

    " _NO! This cannot be!... I... I curse you!_ " She almost laughed despite the flames. "I curse you and I curse you with this knowledge. Cloud Strife is gone. He is not here, no longer on this world. I know not where he is but he didn't pass to the next world. Perhaps he chose absolute oblivion! Where ever he is I do know that you will _not_ be able to find him. You'll be alone forever!" The fire impossibly seemed to intensify, drowning her gloating. " _Arghh!... Help me!... **My son... Sephiroth...** help... me..._ " Jenova finally fell silent and the fire burnt itself out. There was nothing left, not even ash and even the Ultima Weapon had been consumed. Only the blackened and charred hilt remained, clattering to the ground, startlingly loud in the sudden silence.

    "It's over," Nanaki whispered.

    "Yes, she's finally dead," Barret agreed.

    "Don't ever do that to me again!" Vincent hissed into his lover's ear. "I nearly had an apoplexy. Don't ever make me have to cover you like that." His voice held surprising emotion.

    "If she remains dead, you won't have to," Cid returned softly. "But it was the only way. You know that," he paused. "I won't leave you and I'm getting too old for this &^%$." He looked Vincent in the eye. "After we find the Kid, let's say we take a _long_ holiday."

    "That sounds good."

    Tifa had moved to pick up the Ultima Weapon's hilt. She already knew it would be empty of the materia used to kill Jenova but she needed something, anything to give her a hold on Cloud, and his weapon was all that remained. Nanaki and Barret's words while true were not comforting. It was not over. "No, it's not. It's not over, Nanaki," Tifa said quietly. She was too tired for rage or anger or anything. "We still don't know where Cloud is, and if Jenova didn't know, how are we supposed to find him?"

    At her words, the others fell silent. There wasn't much they could say. "Tifa," Barret finally said. "It's time to go. We might not be able to find Cloud, but we're gonna try and even if we can't find him, he'll find us. Ya gotta trust him. Ya gotta be willing to let him go, if ya want him to be willing to stay. He'll find us. I know he will."

    Tifa nodded and rose but she couldn't help the final plaintive thought, _Cloud, where are you?_

To be Continued...


	8. Reeve

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 7 - Reeve

    _Why did I take this job?_ He thought as he signed the bottom of a paper containing about the fiftieth trivial decision of the day.

    Someone cleared their throat softly, trying to catch his attention without disturbing him.

    _Oh yeah, that's why,_ Reeve answered his own question as he looked up. _The power, the respect._ An under-secretary stood before him, standing rigidly at attention with a studiedly neutral expression that did nothing to hide his fear plastered on to his face. In his almost trembling hand he held an unusually thin sheaf of dispatches.

    "What is it?" Reeve inquired after a moment.

    The man placed the folder on the desk, gulped and began. "Sir, as per your standing orders, you wish to be notified if anything unusual occurs within NC Sector..."

    "NC Sector," Reeve murmured, interrupting the man.

    The man nodded and continued. "The Sensor Techs have reported picking up an unusual frequency, an energy signature coming straight from the centre of the Sector, NC-360. At first they thought it was a glitch but checking and rechecking the system has shown nothing abnormal. The signal has since be confirmed by Junon base although nothing is showing up on long range visual."

    NC-360. 0 and 720 indicated the edges but 360 was the exact centre. NC-360 - the centre of the North Crater. _Figures a problem would come from there._ Reeve nodded. "Send a reinforced team up to physically investigate and have them bring anything they find back to NEO Midgar immediately. I want them to have left by this evening," Reeve ordered, without even looking at the dispatch.

    The man nodded and left, leaving Reeve alone with his presidential paperwork.

    Reeve looked at the million or so decisions that awaited his personal attention. _NC-360..._ The place it had all ended. _They can wait,_ he thought, suddenly irritated. _It's time I did my Rounds._ He rose and walked out.

    The paperwork would still be there when he got back. He wasn't lucky enough for it to vanish, or for someone to fire bomb his office while he was out.

~ * ~

    "Where am I?" Cloud struggled to remain calm, not to panic. There was nothing, no touch, no taste, no sight, no sound, no smell. He couldn't move. He couldn't feel anything, not even his body. It was as if the world had just gone leaving his consciousness utterly alone, with not even the dark, or blankness to keep him company.

    ::Calm down.::

    "What? What was that? Where are you?" Cloud cried, or thought he cried, desperately trying to lock on to something.

    ::I'm here. I've always been here. But for now you must be calm and wait. Try to remember what happened if you want something to do.::

    "What happened?"

    What _had_ happened? He had been on his way to discuss the situation with Reeve, after having come to a rather impossible seeming realisation that if he was sane, he being Sephiroth, he did love him. The impossible dream could be real because this Sephiroth loved him and was sane. But on his way to see Reeve the Turks had interrupted him. Then what had happened? He'd have almost certainly fought them but even if he'd lost, it didn't explain the complete nothingness that was around him.

    "Am I dead?"

    ::Hah! You're not dead and you didn't lose.::

    Right, he wasn't dead and he hadn't lost. He hadn't even been close to losing. He'd been trying to get Elena to talk but Reno had kept interrupting her. If Cloud could have he would have frowned, or rubbed his eyebrows in the effort to remember. Reno kept talking. He said... said..? What had he said? There was something there. A flash of anger in the perfect nothingness.

    "He said I was 'Jenova's Puppet!'" Cloud blurted.

    ::He did but then he got a rather nasty surprise.:: The voice seemed to chuckle.

    After that...

_They are going to wish I was Jenova's because then I'd be merciful._

_::I'll handle this...::_

"You did something?"

    ::Yes. Not as much as I wanted to though. I didn't hurt them,:: it hastened to assure Cloud. ::Just made them keep their distance.::

    "Right." And then... Than the world had gone red and Sephiroth... No, that wasn't Sephiroth. Sephiroth didn't have wings.

    ::In your eyes perhaps...::

    "You mean that _was_ Sephiroth?"

    ::I didn't say that.::

    "Then what did you say?"

    ::All right, I'll explain it.:: Cloud caught the distinct tone of impatience. ::The way you view any one depends on your feelings. For most of your life you've felt hate and the wings of an angel have no place on a being you hate. But on one you love..."

    "Does he see _me_ with wings?"

    ::How am I supposed to know? I'm you.::

    "Yeah," Cloud laughed, keeping his voice light. The entire tone of this conversation was light. It helped him to ignore the nothingness. "But I don't think you're _entirely_ me."

    ::Eh... Let's just leave that line of reasoning. Then Sephiroth, who had wings...::

    "Sephiroth, who had wings..."

    Sephiroth had appeared, his long hair streaming, glowing emerald eyes begging him, needing him but shrouded by a sorrow only he could lift. Even through the red, he'd been surrounded by grass and Sephiroth had raised his hand slightly, reaching out entreatingly and had called to him, his voice smooth and rich, yet full of longing. "Come to me..." It was an invitation though, not a forced demand.

    "I was about to accept that then... Then everything shattered!"

    ::I know. That idiot Reno fired his weapon, naturally at the critical time and we ended up here.:: The voice carried definite views on what it thought of Reno's intelligence.

    "Here? Where's here?"

    ::Here is no man's land so we're just going to have to wait until we can get out. Although knowing certain people that will be sooner rather than later.::

    "Certain people?"

    ::Don't I ever shut up? You remember what Sephiroth told you about his world?::

    ::Yeah, I remember. I merged with Jenova," Cloud couldn't help spitting the name.

    ::Certain people happen then to be Reeve and Jenova, who are currently holding Sephiroth captive.::

    "I can fix that."

    ::Yes, you can.:: The voice held a note of fondness. ::But I can't tell you anymore. You'll have to work the rest out later. When we get out.::

    "So for now I wait?"

    ::Yeap,:: the voice seemed to sigh with a disgust not directed at Cloud. ::We wait.::

~ * ~

    Reeve walked through the corridors of the ShinRa building on what he had come to call his Rounds, checking on his ex-comrades. They were all quite securely incarcerated and had whole bevy's of guards doing this but he wanted to be sure. He'd gone to too much trouble to have them escape now, and he knew how tricky they could be.

    Their weapons were all in a vault on a different floor, although he had given thought to allowing the Death Penalty and the Venus Gospel to be taken out and examined. While the workmanship on all the weapons was exquisite, those two would be the most use to ShinRa. It was only a pity he didn't have the Ultima Weapon. Being able to make an unbreakable blade that couldn't be chipped and that maintained its edge no matter what was done to it would be a real advantage to ShinRa troops. Although the SOLDIER's who almost exclusively used swords were gone, regular troops and Special Forces were still issued with knives.

    Reeve shook his head, coming to the first cell. "What's lost is lost," he murmured, as he pulled back the peephole flap and peered in.

    Tifa. She was being kept in a cell that vaguely resembled once created for the insane. The padded walls, floor and ceiling of her cell though, were not there to keep her from hurting herself, rather the padding was there to absorb the blows of her fists, keep the force of impact from reaching the concrete and steel construction beneath. But so far, the elaborate precaution had not been called upon.

    Tifa was sitting as he had seen her every other time he had looked in. The same way she had been sitting every time the guards looked in. She was slumped in the corner, a vacant expression on her face. She ate her meals quietly, bathed and dressed herself without giving the guards the slightest trouble and went to sleep promptly when told it was time. It was rather sad actually. The vibrant, energetic, beautiful woman Reeve remembered was not there. Just a shell. If she'd been like this at Cosmo Canyon... Reeve felt a slight sympathy and admiration for Nanaki for taking care of her.

    The few times Tifa had been persuaded to talk she'd only asked about Sephiroth. How he was, what he was doing. She asked _nothing_ about why she was here, why the others were here and how long she was going to stay. She hadn't once snapped or screamed that this was unlawful.

    Reeve shook his head and closed the flap. Tifa was contained and pining away for Sephiroth. _You can pine as much as you want Tifa. He never even **looked** at you or Aeris like that. Did he look at the others or was Cloud the only one to his taste? And you never knew... Hmm... I wonder if I should tell you, to see if that will spark a reaction._ Despite everything this was not normal behavior and Reeve was slightly worried.

    Reeve continued on. There was nothing he could do at the moment. He walked down a long corridor inset with regular cells. A couple were occupied but their occupants had learnt the futility of attempting to rant at him as he passed. It was a fairly long walk between the cells Avalanche was contained in. He didn't want them talking to each other, not even through shouting and even if the other prisoners relayed messages he doubted Avalanche would trust any of theirs, above inquiries into each others health, to that system. They certainly wouldn't be making plans to escape together.

    He flicked open another small flap, careful to be quiet about it. Barret. The man was asleep for the moment but Reeves care didn't stem from any desire not to disturb him but rather from the fact that Barret had been raging against his incarceration. Quite loudly and quite vigorously. Reeve checked the notes on the door and nodded. Barret was currently on sleep deprivation for lack of co-operation and was probably napping now that he could. The notes also said that apart from cursing ShinRa and himself, Barret had been asking about Marlene. Reeve frowned. Marlene. He _did_ have troops looking for her. She had no parent or legal guardian looking after her and so should legally be in one of ShinRa's orphanages but he hadn't been able to find a trace of her. Whoever Barret had entrusted her to knew how to hide. _It's only a matter of time though. I won't waver and nothing is going to distract me._

Reeve turned away and continued walking down the corridor. For the moment Barret was okay and he really hadn’t been any more trouble that Reeve had been expecting. Marlene would eventually be found and brought in. If necessary she would be re educated. He was not about to allow the child of a known political agitator to become a problem.

    Reeve looked at the tag of the next cell before he flicked open the peephole. Valentine, Vincent. Vincent didn't even look up at the intrusion. Instead he continued reading from the book he held open on his lap. Valentine had been as quiet as Tifa but his quietness was more worrying. It was his normal demeanor but Reeve knew it was also just one way he used to observe the situation. Even now a cold intelligence glittered in Valentine's eyes and Reeve knew his presence had been noted. There were quite a few special warnings given on the notes accompanying Vincent's prisoner sheet. Reeve had personally added a couple once he'd read through the file the Turks had on him.

    _Perhaps I should have kept Cid with him. Lovers or not, the noise might have annoyed him eventually._ Of all of Avalanche it was Vincent Reeve worried about the most. The ex-Turk knew ShinRa procedures, knew when the best time would be to attempt an escape. Still, he hadn't tried anything yet and Reeve had left instructions to rotate the troops watching him so they wouldn't grow complacent. With constantly alert troops it was unlikely that Vincent would try anything.

    "Pleasant day, Vincent," Reeve murmured as he moved away, knowing the man's sharp hearing would catch his words. There was no real point in hiding.

    He crossed over to the 'new' wing of the ShinRa building before he got to his next guest. New as it this section had not existed in the old building but when rebuilding had gotten underway, certain extensions had been added. As a result ShinRa Head Quarters would now house far more prisoners and had a far larger lab capacity than in the old days. A few rival companies, long extinct, had once scoffed at the idea of housing prisoners within the Head Quarters building and while most prisoners were housed in dedicated prison facilities in the middle of no where, it did pay to keep the most troublesome ones close to home. It was much more symbolic too if you could trot them out whenever you wanted.

    Cid Highwind. According to all reports the man was spending his time doing one of three things; chain smoking - Avalanche weren’t exactly prisoners in every sense of the word and some accommodations had been made to make them happy or at least comfortable - raging against ShinRa over the loss of the _Highwind_ or wondering how he was going to tell Shera about his relationship with Vincent. At that point he'd usually revert back to smoking. He, like the others, had not been causing them any problems.

    Reeve had considered 'collecting' Shera as well but the woman was not really a fighter. She was a formidable mechatronic engineer though, whose skills were recognised by others who worked for ShinRa. In the end, he'd decided it would be better simply to watch her activities. If a closer watch was necessary he could offer her a job within ShinRa but so far all reports said nothing had changed with her. She went about her activities as normal.

    At the moment Cid was leaning against his bunk, cigarette hanging precariously from his mouth as he muttered about something. "Yeah... I think that'll work on Shera... Ha! I'm a genius! Why didn't I think of it first?... But if she..." Reeve wasn't really interested in listening so he closed the peephole flap and moved on, ignoring the fresh tirade Cid was indulging in after he'd realised someone had been there.

    One last visit before he checked the main attraction and settled back down to work. He'd left a million or so decisions that no doubt _had_ to be made by him. He'd already made the one for the day he thought was important. That place was never going to leave him alone.

    Nanaki was being kept more in a cage rather than a cell and it was probably closer to the labs than the big cat liked but Reeve wasn't about to move him. Although because of the openness of the cell it did mean more interaction.

    The cat as always had smelt him coming and was sitting fur bristling facing the corridor he emerged from. Reeve looked him over carefully. After Vincent, Nanaki was likely to be the most troublesome but for the moment he had remained quiet.

    "Good morning, Reeve," Nanaki greeted him politely as he sat down.

    "Good morning, Nanaki," he returned the greeting. "How are you today?"

    "This cage is too small." Nanaki said the same thing everyday.

    "You are allowed exercise to compensate for that."

    Nanaki shrugged around the metal collar on his neck. He knew he wasn't going to get anywhere with Reeve but it made seeing the man easier. "How are the others?" He was an experiment, the others did not hold similar value so he felt he had to ask.

    "They are fine," Reeve answered truthfully. "Although I am a little worried about Tifa. She's been listless lately."

    "She wants Sephiroth."

    "She can't have Sephiroth. He's not interested in her. He never was."

    "I know that," Nanaki said. "You know that and deep in her heart she knows that but when you want that badly for so long... It will take her a while to come to terms with it."

    "That's exactly my point. She has done nothing! She hasn't cried, hasn't screamed. She just sits there, day after day... I'm beginning to wonder if I should tell her the truth."

    "She already knows the truth."

    "Oh no she doesn't. You don't know the truth. _No one_ knew Sephiroth's secret except Jenova and Cloud."

    " _Jenova!_ You haven't?" Nanaki leapt to his feet, ignoring the mention of Sephiroth having a secret from them for the greater threat. There had been times when Sephiroth had been inexplicably sad. It wouldn't be that surprising if he hadn't told them all of the truth, kept something hidden from them. His barred his teeth and unsheathed his claws instinctively, a deep growl echoing in his throat. _Jenova._

    "We have," Reeve confirmed. "So it's too late to stop it."

    "You idiot! You fought with us against it. Why?"

    "Because ShinRa needs a perfect General and _this_ time, that's what we're getting. Not Strife and certainly not Sephiroth but one perfect General."

    Nanaki closed his eyes tiredly and sighed. "You're so stuck on the present aren't you, that you can't see the past and you certainly don't care about the future. Jenova isn't something you can use. It will destroy you and in destroying you, destroy the Planet."

    "Not this time. The imperfections caused by Sephiroth have been removed."

    "You're saying Sephiroth was responsible for Jenova going insane last time?"

    "No, Cloud Strife was responsible but he only got the strength through his relationship with Sephiroth."

    "They didn't have a relationship."

    Reeve sighed. "That's what they wanted everyone to believe but they did, right up until Cloud merged with Jenova. Then after that Sephiroth's advances and Cloud's memories eventually drove our General insane. This time though Cloud is not there. There is only Jenova, only ShinRa's perfect General." Reeve smiled at the great cat. "I won't worry about it Nanaki, it's already done and you're not exactly in a position to stop me." He rose. "I'll see that your exercise time is increased," he said by way of exit, leaving Nanaki growling, all claws extended and fur bristling at the thought of Jenova's return and Sephiroth's relationships.

 _Why didn't he tell us? Why did he let us believe Cloud was the enemy?_ There were no answers forthcoming.

    Reeve sighed as soon as he was out of earshot. He spoke to the cat because he was perceptive and could see things only implied. It was rather a pity Nanaki wouldn't work for ShinRa. He could have gone far, the same as Vincent but even if they suddenly did show a change of heart he wasn't about to employ them. He shook his head, settling into his office chair and punching the codes in on his computer. He wasn't actually going to visit his last guest. The last time he'd done that the scientists had scurried for the rest of the day, wondering if they'd done something wrong. It was easier to use the security cameras.

    Sephiroth. Jenova's Child. He should have been one of the jewels in ShinRa's crown, one of their two perfect Generals but he'd betrayed them, given in to human weakness because he was afraid of perfection. It didn't really matter what had happened. He'd fought ShinRa but now he was back in the fold.

    Reeve looked up at the screen as the picture formed. Sephiroth floated listlessly in his tank. There were a number of sensors pressed against his skin that he made no attempt to rid himself of. He'd been like this for the last couple of days, ever since Jenova had destroyed the summon materia and he had collapsed in what the doctors all agreed was absolute and instantaneous magic draining coupled with physical exhaustion.

    The magic draining Reeve could understand. Security log showed that Sephiroth had activated the materia and from all indications it took a whole lot of magic to get it going. But the physical exhaustion? Summons relied on magic not physical strength and at that point they hadn't done anything which might have taxed his endurance. It, like his complete apathy now did not make sense.

    It all stems from that summoning. Reeve narrowed his eyes, considering as several claw like hands injected something into Sephiroth's arm. He didn't flinch or even watch the mechanised arms move, he just floated there, eyes half closed, a vacant expression on his face. Reeve might have taken it for an act but there was no intelligence gleaming at him from behind those eyes. It looked as if Sephiroth truly didn't care what happened to him. He looked dead but his body hadn't caught up. _Why? What was that summoning?_

Just after Jenova had destroyed it, she'd told him whatever had been summoned had died. Sephiroth had screamed a denial and then passed out. When he'd woken up he'd been like this and had said just one thing. "I don't deserve to live." After that there hadn't been even the slightest hint of rebellion in him.

    _It's a good thing we don't have to feed him_ \- his body absorbed all his requirements from the liquid he was suspended in - _I think we'd probably be forcing him to eat now._ Reeve shrugged. Did it really matter? A passive Sephiroth was one they had to watch like hawks to ensure it wasn't part of some plan but one that didn't wish to live... That was a Sephiroth who wouldn't cause them trouble. Reeve dismissed the image and turned his head towards his remaining work. The million decisions look liked they'd spawned.

To be Continued...


	9. Calm

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 8 - Calm

    "Tell me again why I took this job," Harker complained as he trudged down the _long_ spiral incline. Already the thought of the leg aching climb back up was beginning to fester in his mind.

    "To see the sights! What other company sends you to exotic locations and then pays you to see the sights, take the grand tours?"

    "The sights..? Yeah!" Harker gestured around him. "I'll write it up in my report... White, white and let's not forget more white! Why can't the emergency calls come from Costa del Sol? At least then I could enjoy the sights!"

    "Just keep walking and we'll eventually get to the bottom of this bloody crater."

    "It's not that I mind that much," Harker continued to complain. It made the journey faster, at least for him. His companions usually didn't like it much but Mendal was used to him. "It's actually rather good to be able to answer those 'Oh, and where does your job take you?' questions with the witty and cutting reply 'It took me to the North Crater last week.' But why now? Why in the middle of this bloody storm do we have to go all the way to the centre, chasing after some signal some Sensor Tech back in _warm_ NEO Midgar things they've found. I mean _really._ Would it kill them to let us wait until the storm passes, until this bloody place thaws out? And why do these sensor glitches always, and I do mean always come from beyond the black stump? Why can't they come from somewhere like the Gold Saucer or Wutai or Costa del Sol?"

    "Would you get off Costa del Sol?"

    "All right already... Geez!"

    "And I'd watch your mouth too. Scatterbug is that our orders came from higher up. Higher up being the R man himself. Anyway, you've heard the rumors about this place. Do you really want to be walking around here when everything else can too?"

    Harker patted a bulge under his coat. "Got my solution to the bugs right here," he said. "And that's all lies anyway. You're really telling me The General came up here to die? Yeah right."

    "All right, you're on. Bet ya 100 biggies that we _do_ find something."

    "Heh! You might as well pay me now because all we're gonna see is snow, snow and more snow."

~ * ~

    ::Someone's coming.::

    "Huh? You can see outside?" Cloud asked. He didn't know how long he'd been trapped in the nothingness but he did know he'd gone way passed bored. "Why didn't you tell me?"

    ::I can't see that much and until now there has been nothing to report. But for now it's important that you _stay still._ And whatever happens don't try to contact them. You'll know when it's time to come out and despite how bored you are now isn't the time.::

    "All right, all right." Cloud settled as much as he could. Someone was coming. Great. He couldn't hear them let alone see them so how was he supposed to contact them? And he didn't have the slightest idea on how to get out. 'You've gone insane."

    ::You'll see.::

~ * ~

    "Holy sweet mother of God!" Harker breathed when all of a sudden the ice and snow and wind vanished between one step and the next and he found himself looking at... something. He didn't know what.

    "That's not... that's not The General is it?" Mendal asked, pointing upward with a trembling hand.

    Harker followed his gesture. "Oh my God!"

    What he could see almost defied description. It certainly defied gravity. They were standing in a crystal cavern and its sides sparkled, except it wasn't an ice sparkle, it was the sparkle of materia. The entire structure was made from condensed mako. Suspended, hovering in the centre in a huge jagged chunk of pale blue tinted materia was The General, Cloud Strife. He was dead. He'd been dead for a very long time, if the icicles that had formed on the hilt of the blade that had run him through and was protruding from the materia was any indication. The blade itself appeared to be glass or more purple toned materia, edged in clear. But what was most startling of all was the General's expression that could impossibly be seen clearly. His hair still jutted proudly but his eyes were closed  and his mouth was curved in a soft smile. He looked truly at peace, with his hands folded on his chest holding a white and black materia, as if the violence of his passing had not caused him pain. Or as if this was a set up and he wasn't really dead.

    Harker shook his head, forcing himself to look away as he remembered his orders. "I think it's fairly safe to say we've found something, but even if we drag the whole team down, how are we supposed to carry it out, much less to HQ?"

    "Harker!" Mendal hissed. His eyes hadn't left the General. "I think it moved!"

    "That's impossible. It's frozen solid." Still he swung his gaze back and began to meticulously examine the entire structure. He barely noticed his pounding chest or his ragged gasping for breath, he was too lost in a dark anticipation. The place had that sort of effect. "You're just imag... Oh #$%@!"

    Harker's voice froze in his throat as blue eyes snapped open and pierced him. He stopped breathing and his mind was running in a terrified circle, screaming that it was impossible. He wasn't seeing this. He couldn't be seeing this. The General's eyes couldn't be open, he couldn't be looking at him with a mixture of faint annoyance and reproach which settled into a stern expression. He couldn't.

    Harker blinked and gulped. In the instant of darkness caused by his eyelids he prayed to any power that was there that this wasn't so. The powers that be weren't listening.

    Slowly, as if unsure how to do it, the General moved but his eyes never left the two quivering forms below him. He slowly uncrossed his arms, moving to hold both materia in his left hand. He moved his right hand to the blade impaling him and without flinching or moving or crying out, without showing _any_ sign of distress he began to push and pull the weapon from his body. The materia surrounding him seemed to liquefy as the blade moved through it.

    Eventually, after what seemed like eternity the point of the weapon emerged from the General. Impossibly his clothing, his skin, everything was intact as he twisted savagely and after a moment's pause threw the weapon to the ground. It drove itself into the soil not ten centimetres (4 inches) from where Mendal and Harker stood in disbelieving, terrified attention. The General shifted his gaze to the weapon he had just discarded and his voice seemed to come from everywhere, echoing around them. "The Masamune is not for you. It is Sephiroth's now, so my guardianship of this weapon is over. It is time. Jenova must die. I have rid myself of Jenova so let me return to sleep." With that his eyes closed again and his arms once again crossed his chest, holding close their materia. "I hope, for his sake," the General's voice whispered again, "that you can do what I failed to do. Then Xanado awaits you."

    Everything fell silent and then was plunged into darkness.

    "What the hell?" Mendal screamed hysterically. Now that he couldn't see he remembered how to breath but the terror was still there. With fumbling hands he reached for several items on his belt. Harker was faster and the flare lit up, illuminating them both in a sudden harsh light.

    "I have got no *&^%$#@ idea," he snapped back, his voice just as panicked. With a shaking hand he held the flare high peering into the gloom that was above them but even in the murky light it was easy to tell that the materia was gone. It was _all_ gone and the only thing that remained, startling, terrifyingly close was the weapon the General had thrown. They were, for now, safe, surrounded by a cave.

    "It's got to be at least six feet long!" Mendal squeaked as he looked at it. It was so close he could hardly look at anything else. The blade was huge, heavy and double sided, a broad sword made of materia.

    "There is now way anyone could wield this!"

    "He threw it like it was nothing."

    "That's why he's a General."

    They both danced around what they really needed to discuss.

    "What are we gonna tell the others?"

    "What _can_ we tell them?" Harker asked, gesturing with the flare. "It's not like we've got an abundance of evidence. We've only got this," he rapped his knuckles against the sword. "I say we just forget this ever happened. We came to a cave, we found this sword and that is all that happened. We didn't see no General, and we definitely didn't see nor hear no corpse. A cave and this sword. That's it!"

    Mendal nodded. "A cave and this sword. Nothing else happened," he agreed readily. He didn't want to report what had just happened. Visions of padded cells and white clothing for the rest of his life ensured that. He didn't even want to remember it but... "What do you think he meant? 'I hope you can do what I failed to do'?"

    "He didn't mean us! There is _no_ way he meant us. I mean, if he failed, the General, a SOLDIER, what chance do we have?"

    "Then who was he talking to?"

    "Not us. I don't know. He was looking at the sword, maybe he meant that! It doesn't matter. A cave and this sword. That's all we gotta remember," he added throwing some rope over the sword to make a sketchy strap. It was the only way he could see to carry it and HQ was expecting something. "Forget wielding this thing! How could anyone carry it?" He asked as he heaved its weight on to his back. "Let's go. Cave and sword. That's it," he began walking.

    A smile flickered across Mendal's face. "100 biggies," he said.

    "100 what?" Harker puffed as they emerged into the ice and snow and wind.

    "You owe me! The bet, that we'd find something? I'd say we found something, even sticking to our story. So you owe me 100 biggies!"

    "Ugh! Me and my big mouth."

~ * ~

    "What was _that_?" Cloud questioned the nothingness around him. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was moving, even if he wasn't doing anything. Perhaps he was riding in something.

    ::That was a message from the past that you'd do well to heed.::

    Cloud had been waiting for whoever the voice said was coming to come when all of a sudden something, _someone_ had spoken. The voice hadn't sounded in his thoughts but was all around him. "The Masamune was never mine, it always did belong to Sephiroth," Cloud objected. "That doesn't make any sense."

    ::In your world, the Masamune was Sephiroth's. In Sephiroth's world, it belonged to you but he took it up.::

    "All right. I guess that helps. But shouldn't Jenova be dead?"

    ::She should but she's not.::

    "Great," Cloud hung his head. "Just what I need, _another_ run in with Jenova."

    ::There's no avoiding it.::

    "'I hope for his sake you can do what I failed to do,'" Cloud smiled. "I will," he promised. "I will kill Jenova and survive because I've got something I'd never thought I'd have to live for." He frowned slightly. "I don't know what 'Xanado' is though," he added, looking confused. "I hope it's good."

    ::You'll find out,:: the voice laughed. ::You _will_ find out.::

    "Hey, what's so funny?"

    ::You! You don't know what Xanado is.:: The voice laughed again before it turned sadly serious. ::Don't ever lose it Cloud. Don't ever lose your innocence. Don't lose that sense of wonder.:: The voice Cloud know was his was on the verge of tears. Its presence vanished from his mind leaving him even more confused.

    "Well, I _do_ hope it's good," he said after a moments silence.

~ * ~

    "Sephiroth..." That annoying lab rat was back. "We've got something to show you," it continued in an unbelievably chirpy voice.

    Sephiroth looked down dully. Didn't they understand? He _didn't_ care. He'd killed the one person he did care about all while selfishly calling for their help, without even considering how they'd feel to be ripped from their world. _I said I'd go to his. He said nothing about coming here. I don't deserve to live, to exist._ He'd tried giving into Jenova again but any sense of her presence had left him. She didn't care and she didn't want him anymore. Not when she now had the perfect body, one devoid of any personality to interfere with her. And in the tank he was in he couldn't starve himself and with so many people around him he couldn't attempt to kill himself by any other means. Even if he escaped none of the troops would shoot him. They'd uselessly die if he choose to kill them.

    A small jolt of electricity passed through him. "Hey Sephiroth! Are you listening to me?" It sounded like the lab rat was becoming annoyed. _Let him. Nothing matters now._ Sephiroth continued to float, completely unresponsive to what was around him.

    "Sephiroth." The voice was clipped and formal.

    Sephiroth let his gaze shift slowly to the speaker. What did Reeve want now? He couldn't give him anything else, except his life, which he'd gladly part with but Reeve didn't want that.

    "You might be slightly interested to know that we've retrieved your sword. It's got some _very_ interesting materia fused into it but I know for a fact you removed them." Reeve sighed. "It's all just one big puzzle but don't worry Sephiroth, we'll solve it with or without your help."

    "How was Cloud?" Sephiroth asked dreamily. "I hope you didn't disturb the dead too much." He'd left the Ultima Weapon impaling him. He hadn't had the strength to remove it after he'd closed Cloud's eyes and given him the final guardianship of Holy and Meteor.

    "Cloud? According to all reports, the sword was not with Cloud."

    "That's nice. You didn't disturb him at all." Perhaps one of Avalanche had done the decent thing then. Sephiroth let his gaze float away. It drifted up to the place where the Ultima Weapon was being set up in the lab in place of the summon materia he'd used to kill Cloud. Replacing one for the other. _Will they never stop reminding me?_

"A weapon produced by the Planet," Reeve was droning on. "A weapon you, Jenova's Child, should never have been able to use."

    "Uh, uh, uh!" Cloud shook his head in the far tank. "Not anymore Reeve. Sephiroth is no longer my child," Jenova continued. "I have no need for a child now."

    Reeve nodded, turning to face her slightly. "Still, it is good to have this sword. It is a powerful weapon in its own right."

    Sephiroth didn't even hear him. He was too busy examining the blade. At first he hadn't cared but then his eyes had picked out two points on it and it had captured his whole attention. Meteor and Holy. The two of them were side by side in the hilt. _That's impossible. I gave them to Cloud._ As the blade was rotated for its initial inspection he could see other materia in there. A red summon, he couldn't tell what it was from here, a couple of green materia that shone powerfully and a single support materia and an independent slot. _Well, those aren't the one's I was carrying._

 _That is my weapon,_ Sephiroth was forced to the silent conclusion as he continued to look at it, repulsed and fascinated at the same time. There was no way he would ever forget every detail of it. _It's the weapon I used to... Why did I even listen to that voice..?_ It hadn't spoken to him since.

    _Because it offered you hope and you didn't want to see the possible other consequences._

 _You don't have to **remind** me, you know._ Sephiroth answered his internal judge and jury as the complete apathy, the lethargy he'd grown used to over the past couple of days returned. _So they've brought the Ultima Weapon here. It will achieve them nothing and it is a fitting reminder of how much I deserve to suffer... Even if I wanted, I should have considered him but instead I killed him. I never should have listened. I should have kept what I had, been content to know that he was there somewhere and that he was happy there. I don't deserve to live..._

    Sephiroth's eyes closed again and whatever Reeve said as he left was lost as his thoughts continued to spiral down.

~ * ~

    Sephiroth jolted away in time to see Cloud's tank discharge its contents in a spectacular waterfall of glowing green colour. He sighed and waited for the alarms to start and for the troops who were lining the walls to politely insist that she return to her tank. They had instructions to be exquisite to Jenova, orders they would obey because they were the only things between them and death.

    But nothing happened, nothing moved except for Cloud's body as it spat out the green liquid. And except for the soft noise that caused there was nothing.

    "I wouldn't worry about it Sephiroth," Jenova spoke to him as she rose. "I wanted us to be alone for this."

    Sephiroth's heart twisted as he looked over. Jenova, Cloud, he wasn't sure where the line was anymore. Oh, it was Jenova's personality, her will, her actions but it was Cloud's body. It had been easier when it was a child but now, it had been grown nearly to adulthood, nearly exactly how Sephiroth remembered. Slim yet firmly muscled, exquisitely delicate and graceful but in his own way strong. And after Cloud had merged with Jenova, incredibly powerful. When Jenova closed those glowing blue orbs he could almost delude himself that he had done nothing, that this was all just a dream and he'd soon awaken to find Cloud sleeping peacefully in his arms, probably gnawing on the ends of his hair as he tried, usually without success to flick away one of Cloud's spikes that always seemed to brush under his nose in the most irritating fashion.

    _This isn't a dream. This is reality. You **killed** him so don't **ever** think that you can forget it, even for an instant._

"What do you want Jenova?" Sephiroth questioned, wondering where he got the strength to bother.

    "Want... Not much." She walked over to the Masamune and picked it up. "I only want your head, to relive you of that miserable excuse you call a life. I'll even be merciful. It won't hurt... much."

    Sephiroth snorted. "It won't hurt at all," he muttered. "It can't hurt anymore."

    "You'd be surprised," she said, peering up at him from outside his tank, those features, her features, Cloud's...

    _Cloud has every right to kill me._

"Now, what should I cut first?" Jenova questioned, altering the aim of the Masamune experimentally as she considered. Her voice, Cloud's voice even speaking against him was so sweet. Sephiroth closed his eyes, just wanting to hear her, hear him, without seeing her eyes looking out from his body.

    "Ah... I know!"

    So sweet, just like the past. Why was happiness only there and such an impossibly dream here? _Cloud..._

_'Ah... I know... The thing I like best about you!' His blue eyes had shone. 'The thing I like best about you Seph, is you. The way you can't be beaten, the way you never give up, no matter what's happened. Because of that I know you'll always come back to me.'_

_I'm coming Cloud. Just wait a little longer. When you kill me, as I killed you, I can join you._

::So what about the rest of it, hmm? 'The way you can't be beaten, the way you never give up, no matter what's happened?' You're just going to die now?::

    Sephiroth's eyes snapped open, just as Jenova drove the Masamune through his tank into his side. The voice was back. The voice he knew so well. He didn't have time to register anything else. With a sudden fault appearing in the structural integrity of the tank the whole thing exploded outwards from that point. Jenova had had the sense to step aside so she wasn't hit by the flying shards of glass tank wall and green liquid. Sephiroth of course had no choice. He was slammed up against the tank wall for an instant before, with his extra bulk and the vacuum like pressure, the hole expanded and pushed him out. He didn't even feel the scratches he'd acquired. The pain from the wound in his side took over everything as he began coughing involuntarily.

    Eventually he stilled and lay there, shivering in the moisture, watching red and green mix together. They didn't make a particularly nice colour. Jenova took a few steps towards him. "You're not even going to fight me?" she asked, poking his shoulder with the flat edge of the Masamune. "How disappointing and how pathetic. The great Sephiroth not even acting to save his life."

    ::She's right, you know,:: that hauntingly familiar voice said as Jenova began to flick the Masamune over him, inflicting tiny cuts just deep enough to draw blood but do no further damage. ::Shouldn't you at least honor his memory? Honor what he believed to be true, even if at the moment it's not?::

    _I can't fight her. I can't fight him... Not again._

::I'm not asking you to.::

    _You're asking me to fight his body. I can't... I know it's Jenova but I can't..._

::You're not listening to me. All I want you to do is honor him. Why don't you just say what you truly feel?::

    Sephiroth coughed, not knowing to be sad or amused. Cloud, Jenova was attacking him but at the same time he was telling him to fight. Which one? Which one was real?

    "Who are you talking to?" _That_ was definitely Jenova.

    Sephiroth laughed but with his throat raw from coughing it didn't sound amused. "Cloud..." he whispered. "I am _so_ sorry..." He slowly tilted his head towards the Ultima Weapon. The materia on it glittered dully. "I should never have killed you either time. I should have been stronger, found another way." Jenova was talking at him. He ignored her, he wasn't talking to her, no matter what she thought. "Cloud..." Blue eyes, soft spikes of hair and an incredible love no human should have been able to offer. That was Cloud. That was what he remembered, what he would always cherish. "Cloud..."

    "You're boring!" Jenova said, taking a deliberate stance. "I thought you'd be fun to play with but you're boring me, and now you're just mumbling so I'll have to put you out of your misery." She altered her aim, angling the point of the Masamune for his heart.

    Sephiroth looked up and smiled. _Cloud..._ Death wouldn't really be that bad.

    Jenova if anything, was insulted by his smile. " _Die!_ " she screamed, thrusting downwards. Sephiroth didn't move.

    Something else did.

To be Continued...


	10. Cloud

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 9 - Cloud

    :: _Move now!_ ::

    The voice didn't really have to scream. Cloud was already moving. He didn't even think about how one moved when one was trapped in nothingness, he just did. He'd already seen _way_ too much of the outside world not to act. A kaleidoscope of images coming all at once. The North Crater, himself trapped in materia, faces he did not know, Reeve, Nanaki, the Turks, more unknown people but there were all dressed in white, a lab, impossibly himself again, this time alive but with an aura that was sickeningly familiar and Sephiroth. It was always Sephiroth now but the man was in pain, calling out to him and there was no way he could not, would not act, not when his heart screamed at him to help.

    The Ultima Weapon broke free from its stand, flew across the room and impacted with a shower of sparks with the Masamune.

    "What the..?" Jenova growled in surprise, leaping back.

    The Ultima Weapon was surrounded by a green corona and was now hovering in the air before Sephiroth. A weapon, no matter _what_ had made it, was not supposed to move by itself. Even Sephiroth seemed stunned.

    Slowly it rotated itself, always in a position to cover Sephiroth until it hovered vertical, point down. Jenova hissed but did not approach. It's very aura was threatening her, daring her to come close so it could cut her down, burn her very essence away with pure Lifestream. Suddenly the corona changed from the soft, yet impossibly powerful glowing green of the Planet to a brilliant ruby red and the note of energy accompanying it shifted several octaves. Within the ruby glow a figure appeared, both hands holding the hilt.

    "No... it's not possible," Sephiroth whispered.

    The figure was familiar. Tall but not towering, slender yet firmly and finely muscled, hair that defied gravity and an aura of kindness, of caring, of love that defied description, that shouldn't possibly come from one man.

    _Cloud..._

    " _You!_ " Jenova hissed more hatred in her voice now than had been before when she had faced her son, the man who had killed her. "You can't be here."

    Cloud opened his eyes slowly, knowing he'd escaped the nothingness, knowing he'd be facing his enemy, the one who'd been hurting Sephiroth. The one he had to defeat, that he'd been called here to defeat.

    Blue eyes locked with blue, each gaze mirroring the other. Shocked, surprised, confused.

    "I... you... You're me?" Cloud managed to stutter. His enemy was _himself?_ He knew, he'd been told he'd merged with Jenova but seeing it was so different from just being told. It was so much more _real._ But shouldn't merging with that _thing_ have wrought some changes upon his body? He had definitely not been expecting a mirror image. And could they have really brought her back, just by cloning his body? Nothing made sense.

    A shadow of a smile flickered across the other Cloud's features. "You really are separate from me this time," Jenova said. "I congratulate you, Sephiroth. I don't know where you managed to clone Cloud and make him a SOLDIER but it is a most original plan."

    Cloud's eyes hardened. "I'm not a copy."

    "You are a copy, just as this body is a copy but while you, your personality, your mentality, your soul is just a memory of what should be, my being is the original. I have _never_ died. I have lain dormant, asleep, I have changed hosts, changed my appearance, my body but I have never died." Jenova was very firm on this point.

    "I am _not_ a copy, Jenova," Cloud said once more. "I have fought against your son and I tore his soul asunder just as I tore you apart. And while you look like me, you are not me. I have already died here." He brought the Ultima Weapon up, preparing to fight her.

    "Stubborn but there are things only originals can do. You cannot stand against me." She drew the Masamune back, holding the long blade horizontally, ready to attack or defend.

    "You'll find out just how much of a copy I really am Jenova," Cloud snapped. If she wasn't going to listen to him, wasn't going to believe him then she was in for a surprise. _This is Jenova, wearing my body._ The thought brought a dull rage. _She deserves everything she gets._

::Hurry up! Sephiroth needs help!:: The sudden note of urgency did not calm Cloud. He risked a glance back.

    Sephiroth - fleeting glances of his tall silver and black perfection as he moved through the barracks in Midgar, overseeing troops. Close up, some how more real and infinitely more terrifying on the ride to Nibelheim and the fight with the dragon. Cold dedicated perfection on Mt Nibel. Nothing got in his way, nothing distracted him from finding the truth in the reactor. And then the absolute twisted power burning Nibelheim and those eyes... They'd cut through him, his soul and he'd hadn't really been able to fight, had only been able to act in horrified anger, striking him down but in the end still losing.

    Five years of torture. Was that his reward for striking down a God? Jenova had been there but those eyes had haunted him as well, promising that the battle was not over, the fight had just begun. And almost of the eve that they had broken free he had _felt_ him awaken from his sleep, felt him move across the land and sea, coming for him.

    Tifa, Barret, Avalanche... Aeris... _I never told any of you the truth... did I?... That beneath it all, under the hatred, the fear, the pain there was a dream. An impossible, childish dream but it was still there and it was **mine**. But for that time I cast it away. That was the only way because that was not Sephiroth, that was Jenova and nothing should love Jenova. I never could tell you that my sadness after was not for what we had lost, not for Aeris. I'd mourned for her already but it was for me... For the dream I'd completely destroyed by killing him. The dream **I** wanted **so** much._

The memories struck him and the dream returned, full force when he caught sight of those incredulous emerald eyes but then the reality of Sephiroth's situation sunk in and the reason for the voice's urgency, his urgency became apparent.

    Sephiroth lay in a pool of green that was quickly being stained red. Cloud narrowed his eyes. The stab wound to Sephiroth's side was the worst but his clothing was in tatters and hundreds of shallow cuts could be seen. They weren't bleeding much but it could be enough to tip the scales. It looked like Jenova had been playing and Sephiroth hadn't the heart to fight his body. His magnificent hair lay all around him, wet and lank, nothing like the silk strands Cloud remembered from his dreams and his reality. _You can worry about his hair later,_ he admonished himself severely as he turned back to face Jenova. _I gotta beat her quick so that I can cast a Cure._ His face hardened as he stared into twin blue mirrors, his own eyes that looked so wrong. Jenova's soul looking out from his body. "This time, you're _going_ to stay dead, Jenova," he whispered, drawing back the Ultima Weapon and leaping forward to attack.

~ * ~

    Sephiroth watched the battle with growing anxiety even though something was telling him he should look to his own wounds. He shook that concern away. His wounds were nothing, he'd taken worse. _Not from the Masamune._ That part of him which cataloged everything would not let him forget that small worrying detail. He was applying pressure to the wound, wishing the bleeding would stop. But his concern for himself was nothing compared with his concern for Cloud.

    _It's too even._ He'd seen that after the first few passes. Cloud and Jenova were too evenly matched. Neither seemed to be able to gain an advantage over the other and both seemed able to anticipate the others movements having their defenses almost in place before the attack began. The security system and troops were still frozen with whatever Jenova had done to them. They could help neither. _If this continues..._ He didn't want to finish the thought. If it continued he wouldn't be seeing Cloud's dead body again, he'd be seeing it twice.

    _And it will all be my fault. I shouldn't have... I shouldn't have called him here... He was safe on his world. I know it. He would have found a way to deal with Reeve. I shouldn't have called him here. Not like this. I shouldn't have called him here to die._ Sephiroth struggled in the liquid he was in, trying to rise. He had to do something to tip the scales, even if he died, he had to save Cloud. That was something he could do, even if Jenova wore Cloud's body. The choice between the original and Jenova was no choice at all. _Hang on Cloud..._

~ * ~

Cloud leapt to the side as Jenova thrust the Masamune forward directly at his heart. He brought the Ultima Weapon down on her blade, driving its point into the floor and found himself staring once more into a mirror.

    "You're not going to win," his voice hissed at him, trying to pull the Masamune up in a move that would jerk the Ultima Weapon from his hands. Cloud held firm, he wasn't going to be defeated that easily. "Struggling is just going to make my victory better. So give up now and I promise, I'll make it quick, Copy!

    "I'm not a copy," Cloud snarled, swinging the Ultima Weapon through a flat horizontal arc. "How many times am I going to have to tell you that?"

    They clashed, swords locked, criss-crossing each other for an instant before Cloud leapt back, his left hand moving up to tap a green orb on the mystile. The orb glowed as it was activated and green energy started to gather between them.

    "Uh, uh, uh!" Jenova said, slamming _something_ down on the spell, forcing it into oblivion. "No magic, you'll wake them." She gestured vaguely towards the walls where the mechanical and human guards were still held frozen. "We really should keep this in house," she added, moving in for an overhead cut with the Masamune.

    Cloud moved instinctively to block before he flicked the Ultima Weapon vertical, throwing her off and followed her movement with his own downward swing. Jenova spun away and used the momentum to aim a lightning fast slash at his ribs. Cloud twisted his wrist, holding the Ultima Weapon point down, covering his body. The blades width offered him a bare millimetre of protection against the Masamune but it was enough. He did his best to ignore the shivering feeling, the clean cut the strike had placed in his shirt and the cool air that was tickling its way over his chest.

    They held there for a moment, Cloud's back pressed against the Ultima Weapon's wide blade and Jenova with the Masamune extended, crossing the weapon, dangerously close to his side.

    "Cloud," Sephiroth choked into the sudden silence.

    "It's all right," Cloud reassured him quickly, savagely twisting and spinning his sword around ninety degrees before driving it up, trying for a longitudinal slash on Jenova.

    She leapt back, somersaulting over a bench that cleanly fell in two pieces, which both combatants ignored as they fell once more into ready positions.

    "You might be better than I thought," Jenova grinned. "Let's make this interesting," she added, gesturing. Ice crystals began forming in her hand. She flung them at Cloud. Each crystal had a deadly sharp cutting edge and the chilling power of an Ice 3 spell.

    Cloud threw himself to the side, throwing a Flare spell in Jenova's direction in an effort to neutralise the ice crystals. He avoided most of them but a few pinpricks on his leg let him know he'd been hit. He rolled over and came up, facing Jenova again as he cast Regen. The hit wasn't too bad and the spell would take care of the slight damage. "What happened to no magic?" he asked, switching materia to cast Shield.

    "I got bored," she said. "Besides which," Jenova continued snidely. "That applies to you." Whatever it was she had done before she repeated, dropping something on the Shield spell. "I said 'Let's make this interesting,' not fair."

    "Jenova!" Sephiroth called. He'd managed to pull himself upright and was standing. One hand supported him against a bench, the other was still pressed against his side. A thin trickle of blood was still running through his fingers. His eyes reflected a dull pain and his clothing hung in thin tatters from his frame. His hair hung lankly, blotches of red staining it haphazardly but despite everything there was something noble, something regal, something tragic about him that seemed to say 'You should not stand against me, for I am power and I am perfect.' Cloud was almost afraid to look at him even though he knew, he could see in Sephiroth's slight trembling that the aura was a sham. "Your fight Jenova, is with me! Not with Cloud. It was never with Cloud. Take your anger out on _me._ Just leave him out of this." Sephiroth held himself open and willing to take her attack.

    Jenova's eyes closed briefly before she opened them. Rage was the only thing they reflected. "My fight," she said quietly, almost as if she couldn't believe what Sephiroth had just said. "My fight has _always_ been with Strife. You may have been his ally, his lover but you were never the one who stood against me, who condemned _me_ to die in a mortal body, who in the end held me still long enough for that accursed sword to be driven through me. You have not caused me half the pain he has but you will suffer all of my pain and more, just as he will for _daring_ to defy me." As she spoke red lightning seemed to gather in her hands, crackling its way up and down the length of the Masamune. With a hiss she flung the sword back around towards Cloud. A bolt of red lightning so horribly different from the magic the Planet granted arched across the distance between them.

    "Argh!" Cloud clenched his teeth and screwed his eyes shut as the energy passed through him. He hadn't wanted to show pain but he had no choice. This was Jenova's power, completely different from the Planet's summoned lightning. Darker, more painful, wrong, poisoning. There wasn't really a way to describe it. He reached out, seeking power. The Regen spell he had cast would hold for a while yet but for this level of magic he _had_ to get that Shield cast. Even if... Even if that bastard Hojo had done _that,_ he needed the shield. There was only so much he could block, only so much the scientist had been allowed to let him block.

    "Jenova!" Sephiroth cried, unable to move.

    "It's a pity but this isn't going to kill him, just hurt him."

    There was a flash of green energy from Cloud right before he crossed swords with Jenova. "It's not going to hurt that much at all," he said to her. "It's all right, I'm all right," he added, addressing the other party in the room.

    Jenova looked at him closely, squinting blue eyes. Like all SOLDIER's the spectrum she could see was greater than a normal humans. "Ah... I see you got Shield cast. Not bad."

    "Funny about that," Cloud blinked. Was he really acting this way? Facing himself, why was he this confident, this open? Or did he just was Sephiroth to know his secrets before the other man made a commitment. _It's a bit late for that._ "Hojo thought," Cloud grinned weakly. He should never be having to thank Hojo for anything, even obliquely. "He thought that since I would be serving under you, it would be a good idea to give me some immunity to your spells. But you don't have any protection against mine, do you?"

    Jenova's blue eyes widened before she drew back and then swung the Masamune in again, her face taking on its unsual superior expression. "Then I'll just have to make sure you don't cast any." She moved forward, flicking the Masamune in a rapid exchange, leaving no time for spell casting.

~ * ~

    _Something's wrong,_ Sephiroth thought, stumbling slightly as Jenova closed in on Cloud again. The fight was still even, despite the spells that had been cast. Now though they were clashing with such ferocity, such speed that there was barely time to breathe let alone cast spells.

    The Masamune still crackled with red lightning but none of it had struck Cloud since the energy was being blocked, absorbed by the Ultima Weapon. Cloud himself glowed faintly with the effects of his Regen spell. _Physically, he's fine._ There was no denying the agility and grace Cloud was displaying as he parried the Masamune. _He's even better than **me** with the Ultima Weapon._ Despite the fact that Sephiroth had a larger build and could therefore presumably move the six foot or so of broad sword more easily, Cloud did not appear to be having any difficulties. Some of the moves he was doing and the _speed_ he was countering Jenova with... _I'd almost think this Cloud had merged with Jenova but I know he hasn't. He's a SOLDIER created by Hojo's tinkering. A failure Hojo? I think not. I think you created a super SOLDIER and you didn't even know it._

Sephiroth shook his head slightly. The motion brought a wave of dizziness that left him feeling lightheaded. _I've lost too much blood._ He glanced down at the wound in his side. The bleeding had slowed but it hadn't stopped. _I've wielded it! I should have known the Masamune would leave a wound like this. Especially when it is wielded with malice._ He closed his eyes briefly. At the moment there wasn't anything he could do about the cut. He had to help Cloud. That was important and the wound wasn't causing the faint but growing concern he could feel, the knowledge, instinctive that something was wrong. Something was wrong with Cloud.

    _My name..._ The realisation came suddenly. _He never... He hasn't once said my name... Doesn't he want... 'I have fought against your son and I tore his soul asunder just as I tore you apart... I fought my way through the North Crater and faced you there. And there I ripped your spirit apart. I had to, I **wanted** to for what you did, and for everything you would have done.' Cloud's words haunted him. No... I should have know in his situation he could never bear me anything but hate. He never loved me in his world, why should here be any different, except it is alien and there will be no one to give him shelter. I shouldn't have called him. I should have known he couldn't care for me. I should have loved him enough to have been content knowing that **somewhere** Cloud was happy, living free of Jenova._ Suddenly the task of saving Cloud from Jenova became much more urgent. _It doesn't matter about me because if he dies I won't have just killed Cloud again, I'll have killed an innocent..._ Sephiroth began moving weakly, a cold dread beginning to wind its way around his heart, making it feel like lead. _It's all my fault..._

~ * ~

    _Something's wrong._ The feeling would not leave Cloud alone. It wasn't the wrongness he felt fighting himself, fighting Jenova. He could feel that clearly, this was something else, something elusive that he hadn't really felt before. He couldn't ignore it, and with every moment the feeling of wrongness, that he was running out of time grew.

    He jumped high, over a swipe from the Masamune aimed for his knees, swinging the Ultima Weapon around horizontally in his own cut, aiming to decapitate her. Jenova ducked even as she twisted her sword, angling up. Cloud met her rise as he landed, drawing the Ultima Weapon back and holding it before him as a shield. Sword edge met sword edge for an instant before both were swung again for the next blow.

    ::It's Sephiroth!:: That other part of him informed him. ::He can't last much longer. You need to hurry!::

    _I'm trying!_ Cloud snapped. He could see Sephiroth from the corner of his eyes and he did not look good. He _had_ to get a cure spell cast quickly. _Jenova isn't exactly a pushover,_ he added angrily, swinging the Ultima Weapon through a set of proscribed moves Zack had taught him. He didn't have to think if he used them and Jenova required his whole attention.

    ::Use magic. You can't kill Jenova with your sword anyway.::

    _I've been **trying**! She's been jumping on everything before I can even get it started. And if I even think about using a summon..._ Cloud trailed off. He'd thought about summoning Bahamut Zero but the look in Jenova's, his eyes had been one of hideous anticipation. He could cast the summon but he'd regret it. _You should know! What's she doing to my magic? It's not confu or silence, what is it?_

::I _don't_ know. I guess it's something she can do when there isn't another personality clashing with her. It wasn't something she used to be able to do. What about a magic she can't block?::

    _Holy? Only Aeris knew how to use that one. I don't even know where to begin._

::What about Meteor?::

    _Apart from the fact that it'd destroy the Planet,_ Cloud began sarcastically. _I don't have anywhere near enough spiritual energy. Sephiroth only got it working because he was in the Crater, a place the Lifestream had gathered. There was more than enough radiant energy for him to siphon to make it work. This place doesn't feel like anything special so I can't get anything here._

::There is a way. There _has_ to be a way to get rid of her.::

    _Well, if you figure it out, feel free to tell me. In the mean time, I'll continue here._ Cloud couldn't talk much after that because Jenova closed in again with a sudden ferocity greater than before.

    "You're beginning to be annoying," she snarled. "And I don't think I want to play anymore," she added, glancing at the troops lining the walls. The spell would be wearing off soon and she wanted to be completely finished by then. "You cannot defeat me with a sword, even with _that weapon,_ " she spat the words. "You lack the magical ability to defeat me but I will concede that you are not a copy. You are too different from the weak Cloud Strife that I knew. However, you are still not strong enough, you can't touch the Planet and you have to, if you want to defeat me. You're not a Cetera, I killed the last of them so no one can touch the Planet. I win and I grow tired of this. Whoever, whatever you are, it's time to say good bye."

    ::Touch the Planet! That's it! Call to the Planet.::

    _I've been trying. It's not listening to me and I get the distinct impression that it doesn't like me._ He had been trying but had felt nothing more than a blank wall of green that alternated between confusion and hostility towards him.

    ::Then you'd better get ready to dodge.::

    Jenova was holding the Masamune loosely in one hand. With her free hand she was gathering energy. Red energy that despite communication difficulties Cloud could hear the Planet scream against. "You may have _some_ immunity to my power but you don't have all... Don't even bother going back where you came from, just _die!_ " She flicked the power towards him.

    _Red ultima..?_ Cloud thought, doing his best to shield himself with the Ultima Weapon in the instant before it hit. It exploded around him, waves of energy impossibly kicking up puffs of dust from the labs spotless polished floor. He ignored the mini explosion as the mystile shattered, caught by a trailing wisp of power. It sent its materia everywhere. Regen took care of the cuts on his arm but he wouldn't be casting it again unless he could find the Restore materia from where ever it had flown off to. Cloud covered himself with his arms and waited for the worst.

    It never came.

    Cautiously, half-expecting Jenova to strike at any second Cloud peered around the edge of the Ultima Weapon.

    " _NO!_ " His heart went cold and from the corner of his eye he could see Jenova snigger but he didn't care.

    Sephiroth... Sephiroth lay between them. He was twisted awkwardly, lying on his wounded side, his shoulder now bearing the marks of battle. He was looking at Cloud, eyes half closed but shining with relief.

    "It's better this way... Cloud, it really is. I shouldn't have called you here, not when you were happy in your worlds. I should have been stronger, so it's really better this way..." With a final sigh, his eyes closed slowly, never leaving Cloud and a soft smile creased his lips.

    " _That_ was unexpected," Jenova commented brightly. "But he was right," she grinned, drawing the red energy again. "It _is_ better this way."

    Cloud didn't hear her. He heard Sephiroth again, echoing. "It's better this way..?" he choked. "What's better this way?" He ignored the tears he could feel gathering in his eyes. "Nothing's better this way," Cloud whispered quietly. "It wasn't better with Aeris," he continued even though Sephiroth couldn't hear him and Jenova really didn't care about his pain. So what makes you think it will be better for you Sephiroth?" He questioned brokenly. "I just found you, I don't want to let go..."

    ::He's not...::

    _Shut up!_

    ::So you're just gonna let Jenova win, you're gonna let it end like this? I'm disappointed in the both of you. You gonna let her use your form, our form, so that the world will only know hatred for Cloud Strife? I wouldn't worry about that much though, there won't be much of a world left once she's finished. You're really gonna let her win like this? You're gonna let her get away again, after everything she's done?::

    _Aeris... smiling to the end and he stood motionless as Sephiroth, Jenova left. Sephiroth, ignoring his own pain and looking at him with love, a love he shared but had yet to return as Jenova laughed and he still did nothing. Sephiroth... smiling..._ The images hit him hard.

"Once more, insect, I bid you good bye." The red energy flew again.

~ * ~

    Red. Everything was covered in red but nothing hurt, nothing was damaged. He stood in the centre of the Ultima spell no shields, no barriers but the spell moved harmlessly around him. As the red mist cleared he looked at Jenova, almost disinterested, one hand clasped around a small orb.

    "I don't need to touch the Planet," he murmured at her disbelief. "I just need to touch the stars to kill you. The Planet is the ultimate defense, the universe the final attack. I told you Jenova, _this_ time, you're going to stay dead."

    Cloud held out his left hand, discarding the Ultima Weapon. He didn't need it now. The orb in his hand glowed. Impossible as it was pure black energy radiated outwards and intense streams of it crackled up his arm. He raised his right hand, responding to impulses which were purely instinctive. There was no thought, there was only hatred, hot and dark, thrilling its way through his mind and body, offering and _giving_ him power beyond anything he'd ever felt, power that could be blocked only by one other source. But that source Jenova was incapable of seeing, of understanding.

    He stood in the centre of a glowing sphere of black power, hovering over the floor of the lab. He looked down at where Jenova was, once again summoning her energy and smiled. It wasn't gong to be enough. Nothing could be enough to save her from his rage. She had taken his home, his mother, Aeris, his dream, his life, his body, his new found and young love. No emotion she could summon could stop his strike.

    Cloud pointed. "Go!" he commanded the energy and the entire sphere moved from around him, slamming into Jenova's red energy.

    "I... won't... be... beaten!" she growled in the instant her power held his at bay. "I cannot be beaten."

    "You have been defeated," he said softly, flexing his hand slightly, sending an additional pulse of energy towards her. "Now all that remains for you is to die."

    " _NO!_ " She managed the final scream before the darkness engulfed her.

    Inside the sphere she screamed ad the energy burned away her shielding and continued, seeping into her pores and _burning._ It was eating away her cells, her being, driving her out of the body she had been given. It was impossible but she knew, where the burning had passed through the layers of skin her cells had been petrified, returning to the earth the accursed Cetera had trapped her in so long ago. But it was an earth she could escape from.

    "No!" she gasped, nearly choking on that single syllable as she looked up.

    That other Cloud wasn't going to return her to the Planet, the Planet she could break free of as she'd initially assumed. He was doing something else. She looked out and saw him make the last command.

    Defenseless but not needing defenses Cloud still hovered, suspended above the black energy that contained the sreaming struggling form of Jenova. She was trapped, she was dying but there was one last thing to do, to wipe her from existence. He glanced over and nearly lost it all.

    Silver stained red, tattered darkness, a broken picture of perfection. "Sephiroth," he whispered the name as summoning, giving one last order to Meteor.

    Above the ShinRa building, the rock conjured into being flashed and then hurtled downward, locked on to its target. It smashed through the upper floors without slowing down and impacted with the dark sphere that welcomed it and contained its force. Inside the sphere burned white.

    One thousand ultima spells all at once and all contained. The screaming roaring noise of crashing water and the brilliant red blue flash of a Flare. Jenova didn't have a chance. If she cried out, it was inaudible, if she struggled, it could not be seen.

    Finally, slowly the power faded and the sphere disappeared. All that was left was the cold steel of the Masamune. The bindings on the hilt were gone, burned away with Jenova. It clattered to the ground in the sudden silence.

    "It's over," Cloud whispered before the ground raced up to meet him. He managed to shift slightly, to rest his head on the Ultima Weapon and slot the Black Materia back into its position next to Holy. After that all he could do was breathe, ignoring the tears that streamed from his eyes.

    It wasn't fair. Was his dream _that_ wrong, that he'd given up one pain, one life, only to find another, even more painful? Was it that wrong to want to be at peace? Was he always going to watch the one's he loved die?

    Cloud didn't notice the wisps of green that were beginning to gather around him. He couldn't see anything but the never-ending and unforgiving darkness, couldn't feel anything but the cold hard pain driving its way through his chest, choking him. He didn't even bother fighting it. What was the point? It would only lead to more pain. It was better just to let go.

    "Cloud..." the voice came to him in a dream.

    "I'm coming..." he breathed the reply, a smile on his lips. "Sephiroth..."

To be Continued...


	11. Sephiroth

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 10 - Sephiroth

    Sephiroth lay still. The floor was hard and something was digging into his hip but when he considered the impossibility of moving, remaining still was a good option. Actually it was the only option. He couldn't even open his eyes. Moving was a dream he'd consider next year, at the earliest. The floor was cold but that was a blessing against the burning pain from his shoulder. He'd been hit with Ultima Spells once or twice before and the searing magic burn was the same. So he lay there, eyes closed, concentrating on his next breath.

    Above him and around him he could feel power, dark and absolute and could impossibly feel Jenova's fear. What _was_ Cloud doing to make her feel that way? It was reassuring though. Cloud hadn't lost, he was okay. He couldn't be controlling that power if something was wrong.

    "...touch the stars... Planet... ultimate defense... Jenova, _this_ time you're going to stay dead..." Cloud's voice came to him slowly, softly. His final words though contained more power, more resolve that he had ever heard and when Cloud had finished speaking the energy Sephiroth could feel intensified until he thought the air itself would break with the power.

    "Go!" The command was soft but at it Jenova's fear peaked and that absolute dark energy crashed into her.

    She screamed but there was no respite, no mercy. _As it should be_. But the power was still growing. Jenova was defeated, her power burnt away but Cloud wasn't finished. He said something to her before everything save Jenova's screaming fell silent for an instant.

    "Sephiroth."

    He heard, despite the explosive noise that followed and the crushing power that filled the lab, not just burning Jenova's body but erasing her essence. _My name. He said my name,_ Sephiroth thought, ignoring Jenova's final scream and the way her essence vanished. Cloud had said his name with such longing, such love. _Does he..? Could he..?_

"Cloud..." he called weakly after he heard him fall. There was a click but no reply. "Cloud..." he tried again but there was still no response. "Cloud!" he cried, opening his eyes and blinking to get the world into focus. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Cloud. The blonde's head was resting on the Ultima Weapon, eyes closed. Sephiroth couldn't help but smile. He looked so peaceful, so beautiful.

    In the quiet it was so restful, so comforting to know that Jenova was gone, although for the moment that quiet was caused by her spell that was still holding the troops. _I better get to Cloud before the spell breaks. I don't know what they will think of this._

    Slowly Sephiroth rolled himself over. He stifled a cry as pain shot through him from his shoulder and side. _I need a cure spell._ The knowledge brought a stab of despair. _I can't move..._ he realised. He might be able to shimmy across the floor but in the condition he was in he doubted he'd get halfway there. And the condition of the floor...

    The lab was almost completely  destroyed. In the battle benches had been overturned or cut through. Glass lab instruments were strewn everywhere, the shattered pieces sparkled on the floor like a deadly dew. In a few places the floor and roof was charred and in one place it looked like the roof had been vaporised. Sparks from wiring were showering the floor and lights blinked on and off covering the room in an eerie flickering light. It was to be expected of a room that had a high-level battle take place in it.

    "Cloud... I can't move... Answer me, please..." Sephiroth said haltingly. He'd shifted positions but there was still something digging into his hip. It just wouldn't go away. It was warm but it was _hard_ and it was grating against the bone. It was irritating and with all his other worries he didn't need to be irritated. Slowly he moved his arm downwards. It almost took all his remaining strength but he clasped the offending lump and pulled.

    _What the..?_ A small jolt of energy met his grasp. _Materia?_ Warmth seeped into his hand. It felt good. It felt right. _Restore materia..._ He let his energy loose, directing it towards the green sphere now in his hand... The tingle and the multicolored aura of a Cure 3 spell covered him. It felt warm and safe and he could feel his energy returning.

    "Cloud, hold on!" he called as the spell came to an end. It hadn't fixed everything. No cure spell could fix everything but at least the burning pain in his shoulder had gone and the wound in his side had healed somewhat, enough that the bleeding had stopped. The light headed dizziness he had been feeling had rescinded as well. Sephiroth cast Regen as he rose and looked around properly.

    The damage to the room was even worst than he had seen earlier. ShinRa wouldn't be using this lab until it got a complete refit. But that wasn't his main concern. "Cloud!" he almost shouted when he saw him clearly. Cloud wasn't peacefully resting on the Ultima Weapon as he'd assumed, he was being held there. A mist of green emanating from everywhere was pinning him there. The Planet. Sephiroth jumped towards Cloud, and reached out.

    "Arhh!" he cried out as his hand encountered the green. It stung and in the instant he touched it he saw the Planet's intent. _No! He destroyed Jenova... Why?_ The Planet's intent was not nurturing. It was as determined to destroy Cloud as it had been to destroy Jenova. Cloud didn't have Jenova's defenses so it was easier. _Why..?_

Sephiroth thrust his hands into the green, demanding answers. Cloud had just saved the Planet, he didn't deserve to be killed, to die. He deserved to live. A welter of images from the Planet touched him.

    Jenova, the Cetera. A battle almost destroying the Planet. Two materia, Holy and Meteor flashed before him. Jenova again. A child with green eyes and brown hair. Sparkling blue eyes and spikes of blond hair. Swords clashing and a battle of wills. Jenova, screaming. A scream the Planet heard and he knew she'd been trapped in Cloud's body. Trapped and condemned to finally die. A burning Nibelheim and a destroyed reactor. The Lifestream screaming as Jenova entered it. ShinRa tower. A dead president. The temple, Turks and a brief brutal battle ending in Jenova's laugh. Meteor. Aeris praying. Holy glowing white which slowly changed to green. A flash of warning. Meteor. Dread. The Planet crying. Jenova, looking out from Cloud's body, laughing at Aeris' death. Himself lunging at Cloud but not fast enough. Holy, its glow fading as it rolled down the altar. Mourning. The Planet screaming, doing its best to strike as Jenova called Meteor. A flickering final battle Sephiroth remembered. Holy and Meteor clashing with Holy and the Lifestream slowly emerging victorious.

    _No! You can't,_ Sephiroth thought, pleading with the Planet. _Just because he used Meteor he doesn't have to die. He used it to save you, used it to destroy Jenova. He didn't use it against you, to hurt you. He didn't touch the stars in malice. You are the ultimate defense, he only used that ultimate attack to destroy that which would have hurt you. Let him go!_

The green flared, driving Sephiroth back. The message was simple. Anyone who used Meteor had to be destroyed. "Cloud, wake up! Fight it, fight the Planet now. Tell it Meteor was only used to destroy Jenova." Cloud didn't move, he didn't even twitch. "Cloud! Don't leave me now!"

    Sephiroth rocked back as the green flared again. It wasn't actually hurting him, it didn't want to hurt him but it would if he truly tried to interfere. _I can't... I can't see that again... Not **his** body. Not again. Help me!_ He called to the voice, Cloud's voice that had been haunting him. _Cloud, I know you're there! Help me!_

The voice remained silent. Straining Sephiroth could feel a whisper of its presence but something was forcing it to silence. He was truly alone and he could only watch as the Planet gathered itself to strike the one who had saved it.

    Meteor... Holy... It always rested around those two materia. Even the images the Planet had used to explain resonated with those materia. _'...touch the stars...'_ That's what Cloud had said. To touch the stars when you are on the Planet... _NO! You can't do that. He must have known the stars on the Planet causes it to attack when all the Planet wants is to defend..._

Sephiroth blinked and whispered to the Planet, as he moved forward. "But you don't need to attack now, the danger is past. You need to rest, to defend and heal and I will show you how." He smiled, kneeling down at the hilt of the Ultima Weapon. He didn't reach out to Cloud even though his head rested so close on the blade. He understood now how Aeris had activated Holy and he had to do the same to defend Cloud. It was really very simple. Touch the stars or touch the Planet. The distant separation of absolute hate or the comforting touch of love. Cloud had used hate, the only attack great enough to destroy Jenova. The Planet could defend against her but it could not destroy her. He would have to use love, to defend against the Planet.

    "Cloud, I promised you I would always keep you safe." He reached out and touched Holy, willing it to come free of its slot. With a soft click it came loose in his hand. "Now I will keep my promise." He looked down at Cloud and didn't fight the soft smile or the burst of love the sight brought. Cloud was _so_ beautiful even in the illusion of sleep. He was so peaceful.

    Spikes of hear, haphazardly arranged, his long lashes resting against his cheeks. Those beautiful sapphire blue eyes he couldn't see at the moment. The way he curled in his sleep, limbs tucked in and arranged to unconsciously give the impression of fragile grace. Physically the man lying before him was almost the same as the man he had loved. But the Cloud before him had the mako enhanced strength, the reflexes of a SOLDIER. The natural blue glow of his eyes had been enhanced and those eyes could now be as chilling as the winter wind or as gentle as the spring sun. They would be so much more expressive. _But it wasn't like he couldn't shatter my soul before,_ Sephiroth reflected as he sank his consciousness deeper into Holy. One time, there had been one time only he'd seen Cloud in tears and even though he wasn't the cause, even though he had ordered a very personal vengeance against those responsible it had been enough for him to know that he never wanted to see Cloud look at him in sorrow, to have him look with anything but that soft gentle love. Physically they were the same but mentally...

    The Cloud before him felt different. It was slight but it was there. The innocence was still there. Cloud wasn't innocent, not completely but he felt that way. And the incredible desire never to hurt anyone was still there. Sephiroth smiled. It seemed silly in some ways, that as a fighter Cloud could defeat most opponents without even trying but he didn't _want_ to hurt anyone. He'd probably done his best to let Tifa down gently. Sephiroth blinked. There were slight differences he could feel but the main one would have to be that this Cloud felt older. _It's not that surprising really, if Cloud fought me, if he went through what I went through that he saw a lot, that he got older. It was enough to age anyone._ But despite the difference it was still the Cloud he knew, still the Cloud he loved.

    And that was all he needed.

    The soft gentle energy of Holy was all around him. It threaded through him, feeding, growing off his feelings, his love, his desire to protect. That was all it needed and slowly, beneath the green tendrils of power the Planet was sending a soft white light began to coalesce. The green wisps of power flicked back when they touched the light, but some were still getting through. Cloud shifted, frowning slightly as he felt the feather light but deadly attack. Sephiroth's brow creased but he resisted the urge to order the materia. Holy was not like Meteor. It could not be commanded, it could only be convinced, persuaded that your feeling was great enough that it should act.

    "Cloud... I'm not going to lose you..." Sephiroth whispered before directing his thoughts towards Holy. _You can have everything, take everything that I am to save him. I will die for him if that's what it takes. Just so long as he is alive, it doesn't matter about me._

The power around Cloud flared and then solidified becoming a wall. Sephiroth felt his vision go blurry. Despite the cure and regen spells he had lost a lot of blood and was pushing the limits of his endurance but he didn't care. The green force of the Planet's power was being repulsed, driven back from Cloud and the oppressive weight that had entered the room with it was fading. Sephiroth held Holy up, reaching out with his free hand, through the energy to brush one of Cloud's spikes. "It's time to wake up. This time the dream can be real, Cloud," he whispered as the green energy faded entirely.

    "Sephiroth," the voice was less that a whisper but he heard.

    Traces of the sun were reflected in Sephiroth's smile. "I'm here Cloud. I'll always be here."

    "I don't think your Planet likes me very much," Cloud said with a dry smile.

    "I've persuaded it otherwise," Sephiroth replied with a soft laugh. Holy's light faded but in the darkness of the lab he could still see Cloud's eyes open.

    Blue met green, looking into each other. "I've missed you," the words were mutual.

    Sephiroth blinked. Overlaying Cloud's voice there had been something else. "You missed me?" he questioned. "You never were with me before Cloud. You told me yourself."

    :: _I_ missed you.:: From the way Cloud blinked, he'd heard the voice as well.

    The voice chuckled slightly. ::I guess it's time for me to go.::

    " _Wait!_ Aren't you Cloud?" Sephiroth cried out.

    ::I am Cloud Strife.::

    "I mean _this_ Cloud," Sephiroth gestured as Cloud blinked owlishly in the dark.

    ::I'm not that Cloud. The memory of what could have been should really leave in the face of what is.::

    "You're my Cloud?" Sephiroth questioned, his voice still full of confusion, searching for the right questions for the answers.

    ::No.::

    "Do you want to explain before you drive us nuts? You told me you were me but just a different part. Now you're saying you're not me?" Cloud broke in on the conversation.

    The voice sighed. ::All right. You'll never give me any peace until I explain, I guess,:: it muttered before beginning. ::I am you Cloud but at the same time I am not, neither am I Sephiroth's Cloud. Sephiroth, the Cloud you loved was still very much a child. Oh, they were mature enough to love but in some ways they were still very young. I am what could have been, what might have been if Jenova had not been there. I am the adult Cloud, the General who was only Cloud. I could not rest, die because of my love but now that Jenova is gone and Sephiroth has Cloud I can go and be happy because there is nothing for me to fear. The one I love has someone to love. As I said before, Xanado awaits.:: The voice paused. ::But you're probably going to have to work at it a little.::

    " _You_ said 'Xanado awaits'?" Cloud was incredulous.

    ::Yes, I did. Who exactly did you think was in that materia cave you saw earlier? Jenova was trapped with me but when they started the cloning they gave us both an out. I just used it differently. I am only the memory of Cloud, made up of his strongest emotions, his strongest memories. I am not _whole_ so there was no way I could fight Jenova and expect to win. Not really. If I won, what I showed you Sephiroth _that_ was probably what I would have eventually been driven to. And that would really have not been Cloud Strife. Now though, I can rest.::

    "Cloud," Sephiroth choked.

    ::Seph, you did _nothing_ wrong. You did what _had_ to be done and you are not dishonoring my memory by loving this Cloud. I want nothing more than for you to be happy... Heh! I could go on for a while but it is time now for me to go. I love you Sephiroth, just as he loves you.::

    With that the subtle yet familiar presence faded. Sephiroth closed his eyes. _I love you, Cloud,_ he thought his last good bye before looking into sapphire blue eyes with a soft smile. His life was before him. "Cloud..."

    "Shh..." Cloud hushed him gently, looking up from where his head rested on the Ultima Weapon. "Sephiroth," he breathed, closing his eyes briefly and smiling to himself. "It's a name I never thought I'd say with any degree of caring, a name I'd always thought I'd hate. But he was right, _I_ was right. I love you, Sephiroth," Cloud's voice wavered slightly with emotion. "I guess I always have and I know now I always will."

    "Cloud," Sephiroth whispered bending forward to kiss his forehead. "All I ever wanted was to keep you safe and I promise this time I will. You are not the Cloud I have loved but you are the Cloud I love."

    Cloud pulled himself up slightly to sit facing Sephiroth. Sephiroth moved too, his hair falling over his shoulders as he leant forward. A skein of silken snow fell between Cloud's fingers as he too leant forward, intent on returning Sephiroth's kiss.

    **_Ka-click!_**

    "Sephiroth, move away from Jenova!"

    **_Crash!_**

    "Sephiroth, are you alright?"

    "Jenova!"

    **_Slam!_**

    "Oh boy... This _is_ quite the scene."

    Cloud and Sephiroth both froze before looking around. The first thing they saw was the barrels of guns. Jenova's spell had broken and the troops had taken the only logical course of action. The next thing was Avalanche, standing in the broken remains of a door, weapons barred. They were ready for action although from their formation they were also covering the still lack luster Tifa. They too had made the same assumption as the troops although their goals were far different. Standing at one of the other entries were the Turks, Elena and Rude flanking Reno. Rude's expression was as blank as always but Reno's reflected a certain amusement at seeing Cloud, Sephiroth, Troops and Avalanche altogether.

    "This _is_ quite a scene," he repeated after a moments silence, when most of the people had had the chance to fully take stock of the labs condition. "Jenova, Sephiroth, you _have_ been busy but Jenova, you won't be ShinRa's General if you don't let that body grow to complete adulthood." If Cloud had truly been Jenova then Reno was taking a huge risk admonishing her so. "As for you Sephiroth, the lab rats tell me they've only got half the tests done so it looks like we'll have to find you a new tank."

    "You think we'll let that happen?" Barret asked, aiming the Missing Score.

    "You're out numbered," Elena rolled her eyes at them.

    "Avalanche," Reno began. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to return to your cells. The President hasn't given us any exact orders regarding you so it would probably be looked upon favorably if you obeyed peacefully."

    "Like hell!" Cid spat. "We're gonna get Sephiroth, kill Jenova and then destroy this tower on our way out. There ain't no way we're bowing to ShinRa."

    At his words, and with a signal from their commander, half the troops turned to level their guns at Avalanche.

    "An interesting proposition," Reno said as he walked forward into the room, Electro-mag rod bouncing on one shoulder. "But it looks like you've got the same problem that confronts us, how exactly to get your man safely away from the other." He looked over at Cloud and Sephiroth as he spoke.

    Sephiroth and Cloud shared one befuddled look before both their expressions turned calculating. This was a potential dangerous situation and with the assumptions being made by all the party's it didn't look like it would resolve itself neatly. Cloud let his fingers slide slowly over the materia slots of the Ultima Weapon. He could feel what each materia was. When he reached Shield he stopped and began to slowly weave the spell around Sephiroth. Elena was correct about that. Those who had the desire to help Sephiroth were out numbered and they were on the far side of the room. _His_ problems would arise when they realised he wasn't Jenova.

    "ShinRa," Barret began, leveling his gun arm at Cloud. He didn't see Sephiroth pale at the action. "We ain't backin' down, you ain't backin' down, so I guess we gotta fight this out."

    Cloud looked over at Barret. If Barret had the same skill he remembered he should be able to dodge his blow. Vincent though could be a bit tricky. "I don't suppose anything I can say would convince you otherwise?" he asked. While he was confident they would eventually understand it was eerie seeing Avalanche view him as an enemy. He didn't really want to fight them.

    Barret shook his head, refusing to met Cloud's eyes. "That's right, Strife. _Nothing._ There ain't no way I'm lettin' you run free."

    Sephiroth looked at Reno. "You're not going to let me explain the damage first?" he gestured around. "It makes the interesting scene so much more interesting," he added archly. Let Reno make what he would of the inflections in his voice. The Turks knew the truth Jenova had spoken, they might even work the situation out. _After I beat it into them._ The Turks as a whole weren't well known for their brains.

    A cold smile flickered on Reno's face. "If you were still General Sephiroth, I'd have to obey you. But you now rank less than toilet scum in ShinRa so I'm gonna hafta pass. Besides which, I'll get the explanation when the lab rats torture it out of you. They're positively vicious when someone wrecks their work. Enough talk though, let's get on with this."

    When Reno stopped talking Cloud looked back at Sephiroth and smiled as the spell coalesced around him. Unless you knew what you were looking for, you couldn't spot it. The smile was taken as Jenova's playing. _I will protect you this time._ Then the room exploded into action, troops, Turks and Avalanche all descending on their position.

To be Continued...


	12. Aftermath

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 11 - Aftermath

    Sephiroth didn't need to look around before taking action. He threw himself to the ground, extending one arm to pull Cloud down with him. Several bullets passed though the air they had been in. An instant later lightning and fire clashed with each other. Everyone was going all out. For the moment the troops were too occupied to try escorting 'Jenova' away from Sephiroth. Avalanche was experienced at occupying large numbers of troops and they were good, even if they were missing several members. The Turks for the most part were avoiding fighting with Avalanche but they were having trouble moving through the sheer numbers of people. Reno could be heard dimly cursing that fact.

    Cloud grinned at him with a strange excitement. "This _is_ unexpected. I never dreamed I'd be in a position where ShinRa's trying to protect me," Cloud said, laughter in his tone.

    "It will pass," Sephiroth replied. "The Turks were there when Jenova let slip that I loved Cloud. They'll probably be the first ones to work it out." He looked around slightly. "Although convincing the Troops' commander could be interesting. _They've_ all got orders to be polite to Jenova. She agreed not to kill them if they didn't insult her, so they'll be very nice to you."

    "What? Nice as they shove me into a tank?" Cloud didn't look impressed. "What about Avalanche?" he asked with slightly worried eyes as the white triangles of his earlier shield shimmered around him as the spell faded. "I don't want to fight them."

    Sephiroth sighed. "They could be a little more tricky but I'll explain it to them. I think first we need to deal with ShinRa and the Turks. We can consider things after that. I won't let them hurt you though, I promise."

    Cloud twisted, pulling the Ultima Weapon between them. "Here," he said, offering Sephiroth the hilt. "This is your weapon, isn't it?"

    The white haired man closed his eyes briefly. Cloud couldn't know what he asked. "Cloud, that _was_ my weapon but even now that I have you, it contains too many memories. The horror of what I did with it would still effect me." He reached out, around the hilt to gently stroke Cloud's cheek. A jolt of electricity passed through him with the touch and from the look in Cloud's eyes it looked like it was mutual. The movement though was inappropriate considering the battle raging around them but he had to. "The Masamune is now mine and if you cover me, I'll get it and then we can get out of here."

    "The Masamune..." Cloud whispered before smiling. "In a way I'm glad. I don't think I'll ever really associate another sword with you. As for covering you, you've got a shield spell on. I cast it on you earlier, so I'd say we're just about ready to go."

    "You..." Sephiroth's eyes widened as he perceived the energy around him. "I will protect you, Cloud. I won't let anything hurt you. Cloud, it would kill me to lose you so don't you ever..."

    "Shh," Cloud placed a finger on Sephiroth's lips. "I won't ever leave you and I've cast the spell again for me now. I'm not the defenseless Cloud you knew. I can fight and I have seen the destruction you have. This is going to take us both some time but for now we have to fight." He drew his hand back, wrapping it around the hilt of the Ultima Weapon, one finger still extended, resting on a green materia. "Are you ready?"

    Sephiroth nodded. This Cloud was different, he knew, but it had just been reinforced. He didn't need protecting, he needed a partner, someone to fight at his side. A smile flickered across his features. _Someone he can trust to watch his back even as he watches mine, someone I can trust. I think I could like that. Someone like Zack but more than a friend._ He shook himself mentally, looking up as a bolt from the Electro-mag Rod bounced off the Shield Cloud had cast. _Time to get back to the present._ "I'm ready," he said, looking over to where the Masamune lay. The bindings on the hilt had burnt away but he could still use it. It was a very well made weapon.

    "Good," Cloud breathed, looking up. "Comet 2," he added, holding his spare hand out, directing the rocks into ShinRa's troops as he jumped, the Ultima Weapon trailing behind him.

    Sephiroth followed. It was awkward from his lying position but he gained some height and dove towards the Masamune. It was lying in a small circular depression caused by the energy Cloud had used to vaporise Jenova. He grabbed the swords hilt and rolled coming up to face his opposition.

    Their sudden explosion from the midst of the ShinRa troops had left the centre of their formation in disarray. Elena was doing her best to counter for it but she was being hard pressed by Nanaki and Cid. Cloud had followed his movement and now stood a little in front of him facing Barret, Tifa, Rude and Reno. The Turks and Avalanche kept eyeing each other in between eyeing Sephiroth and Cloud. Vincent stood to the side carefully choosing his targets.

    Sephiroth narrowed his eyes as he considered his options, their options, adjusting his grip on the hilt. The hilt was slightly loose but he'd be able to wield the weapon effectively enough. "First things first," he began talking to both Cloud and Avalanche. "Let's get rid of the accessories, then we can deal with the main event." Barret and Tifa nodded, their main even was Cloud. Cloud also nodded slightly, eyeing the Turks before he leapt at one of the guards. Same words, different meanings. Was it always thus?

    Rude and Reno both moved to intercept Cloud but their intentions were not hostile. It appeared Reeve had stressed how important Jenova was to him to the Turks in suitably strong language. "Jenova," Reno began. "The troops don't matter, it doesn't even matter if Sephiroth and Avalanche get away. ShinRa can just capture them again but they have too much invested in you, in that body to allow you to die through some mishap. There are too many chances for error here, please withdraw with us! Leave Avalanche to the troops. You'll probably get a crack at them later."

    Cloud pulled up, blinking in surprise. Reno really did think he was Jenova but even so he couldn't use that information to his advantage, not when the man was asking for him to leave. He couldn't go with him, there would be no further chance to escape, he could feel it, just hundreds of tests when they found out he wasn't Jenova. He looked Reno in the eye and leant forward slightly. Jenova was female, she was more likely to want to touch. Red brown eyes met his blue and he allowed himself a smirk. Even if he couldn't use Reno's belief, he could use the man's surprise when he shattered that belief. He had the Tornado spell ready as he whispered into Reno's ear. "Whoever said I was Jenova?"

    The spell burst from his hand, the powerful currents of wind hitting Reno's midriff. The Turk really didn't have a chance, his eyes widened at the information Cloud had given him before he was thrown across the lab. His flight was stopped by several guards who crashed into the floor with him. None of them got up and Reno himself twitched slightly as he fell into unconsciousness. The spell had gotten through all his defenses. The Electro-mag Rod fell from his hand in the sudden silence.

    "What..?" Most people in the room questioned in quiet disbelief as all eyes turned to Cloud. He was on ShinRa's side, he wasn't supposed to attack them, was he?

    Cloud blinked at the sudden attention and brought the Ultima Weapon up, facing Elena and Rude. "I am _not_ Jenova," he said forcefully as he jumped back slightly, into a position to better cover Sephiroth. "I am Cloud Strife," he continued. The fact that his back was completely open and was facing Sephiroth was not lost on anyone. "And I am _more_ than willing to face you, ShinRa."

    Elena and Rude shared a confused look. It wasn't possible for Strife's consciousness to dominate Jenova's, was it? Avalanche too shared the same look amongst themselves before they looked questioningly at Sephiroth. Belatedly the Turks and troops looked passed Cloud as well. Sephiroth was the only other witness, even if he was a prisoner.

    Spehiroth stepped forward to stand beside Cloud. "Jenova met with a Meteor spell," he said, looking towards the hole in the ceiling. "The power she tried to use once to destroy the Planet, destroyed her. This is not Jenova, this is Cloud." He paused before continuing. "I'm sorry, my friends," he said sadly. "I will stand against you if I have to," he added, settling his grip on the Masamune and casting one eye in Vincent's direction. The ex Turk was still in a position to snipe at Cloud from behind and Sephiroth wasn't going to allow that. "I'm sorry," he repeated.

    "Reeve told me but you _should_ have told us," Nanaki growled before he turned his attention back towards the Turks.

    Cid nodded slightly to himself. The rest of Avalanche was still dubious about Sephiroth's words and whatever information Red had he wasn't about to share it at the moment but at the same time the big cat trusted what their colleague had said. "This Cloud," he began slowly, "isn't like the Cloud we knew. I think that for now we have to trust what Sephiroth says and sort this whole mess out later when we get out of here. He hasn't attacked any of us and he doesn't feel like Jenova." Cid cast one last look at Cloud before he turned towards the Turks and troops.

    Vincent altered his aim as Barret reluctantly nodded, shifting targets as well. Tifa glared at Cloud, flexing her hands before she too came to some internal decision and shifted her weight slightly pulling the Premium Heart on tighter. No one saw the look of hatred and absolute cunning she directed at Cloud.

    Rude and Elena looked at the force before them before sharing another look. Retrieving Jenova while the troops took care of Avalanche was one thing but they hadn’t been ordered to do _this._ Facing off against Avalanche, Sephiroth and a Cloud Strife who seemed to have all of Jenova's capabilities but not her delineation between sides was not something they were prepared for. It was not something they could do when they were a man down either. Rude looked significantly at a set of doors behind and to the side of Elena. She nodded slightly before looking over into Cloud's eyes.

    "I'll get you one day, Strife. I'm not about to let you get away with Tseng's murder. I'll be after you," she snarled but could still barely suppress a shiver at the cold blue stare that met her eyes. It was powerful and this power was not insane. It wouldn't make a mistake.

    "Let's call it a day," Rude borrowed Reno's line from where he'd moved and now stood, supporting the man. He turned an moved towards to door. Avalanche just watched, none of them made a move to attack as the Turks cut and ran. That was their style and anyway, Avalanche had more pressing concerns.

    "Actually Rude, I don't think you can." The voice came from all around them. As it spoke small white lights began flashing and steel security doors slammed down, covering the exits and blocking off those doors that had been destroyed earlier. A twisted wail from a klaxon blared for a second before it squeaked and squawked and faded into silence.

    "Reeve, you bastard!" Barret snarled. "What are you up to now?"

    "I'm containing failed experiments. It's a standard practice to destroy all failed experiments." As he spoke panels along the walls and along the edges of the ceiling slid open and nozzles appeared.

    "Destroy failed experiments?" Sephiroth questioned, standing upright from his fighting stance. He had a sinking feeling that he knew the entire room shared at that phrase. He wasn't going to let Reeve see that though.

    "Standard practice," the man repeated, "is to incinerate all failed experiments. And you, Sephiroth, certainly fall under that category and given Strife's actions he has somehow found a way to dominate Jenova resulting in the failure of our cloning procedures. You are both failed experiments that have to be destroyed."

    "I'm no one's experiment, Reeve," Cloud snarled. "Jenova is _dead_ so doing this is going to achieve you nothing!"

    "Oh it will achieve something, Strife," Reeve continued as a hissing sound started. "I'm a bit sorry about having to do this to you Turks but these experiments must be contained no matter what the cost. I'd suggest you all make your final peace. I don't think ShinRa will bother with the expense of funeral services."

    "Reeve don't you *&^%$#@ dare..." Barret trailed off. The man wasn't listening and he had a more immediate concern. "God dammit, what do we do?" The hissing noise provided a background noise. It didn't tick, it didn't need to but it was a constant reminder that time was running out.

    Sephiroth looked over at Cloud. The two of them might be able to survive if the shield spell he had cast before lasted long enough. But that still left the others. Avalanche, the Turks, even the troops, none of them deserved to die like that and Cloud didn't have the strength or time to cast the spell for them all.

    "I could cast a Wall," Cid said.

    "It wouldn't be enough," Cloud replied quietly.

    "And what do you know, Jenova?" Barret snarled, more than ready to take Cloud on.

    "I'm not Jenova," Cloud repeated softly. "And what I know is that Wall only blocks half the damage. If you cast it all you're doing is prolonging the inevitable. We can't try shooting our way out either," Cloud added, looking at several of the troops who had leveled their weapons at the door. "With this gas, the sparks from the bullets would just set it off earlier."

    "What about Reflect, Mr Know-It-All?" Cid growled, grinding his ever present cigarette out.

    Sephiroth shook his head. "That wouldn't work either Cid. This isn't mage fire, this is gas fire. I guess they use this because some of their experiments are immune to mako generated flame. Rude," Sephiroth called. "Will you be okay with this?" He questioned. The man's face had remained as blank as always.

    Almost imperceptibly the Turk shook his head.

    "It looks like we're all on the same train then! Great," Barret grumbled with feeling. "Just what I always wanted - to die with ShinRa's foot soldiers..." He turned away, cursing quietly to himself. "Marlene... I'm sorry..."

    "Well, I don't intend to die," Cloud said, drawing the intention of everyone with those words. The troopers looked over at him, a faint hope growing in their eyes. This was their General, surely he could save them when no one else could. "Which one of you has got the Mega-All materia?" Cloud looked around at the members of Avalanche. "I'm not blind here. I know Reeve left the materia in your weapons so which one of you has got it? Just don't tell me you gave it to Yuffie." He sounded exasperated at their reluctance to talk to him and even his quip did nothing to dispel that.

    "Fine!" he snapped, after another instant of silence. "I'll explain it so you understand. I. AM. NOT. Jenova. IF I was this fire wouldn't be a problem and I most certainly would not be bothered trying to save you. If I am Jenova, I will survive this and you will die. That wasn't something I thought Avalanche wanted. I am offering you an out here, a possible way to survive the fire and after that everything else can be worked out. But if you don't make up your minds soon it will be too late. Now _who_ has the Mega-All materia?"

    "I do," Vincent said quietly, reaching to the protective bangle on his wrist. With a delft movement he removed the pink orb. "But it doesn't work with Shield." The red caped man thought he could see what Strife was trying to do. "You can still only cast that spell on one person at a time."

    Cloud turned towards Vincent. "I know but I hadn't planned on doing that."

    "Cloud?" Sephiroth questioned. He was the only one fully at ease with him but the gas levels had to be reaching the optimal mixing point with the air soon. They were running out of time. Even now, every breath he took was tainted by the gas. "What are you doing?"

    "Something I hope will work," he replied as he caught the thrown orb. He lay the Ultima Weapon on the floor after removing the Shield materia. "Everyone, gather around me. This is going to be hard enough as it is without having you scattered all over the room." That was an order and while there was some grumbling everyone obeyed, gathering around him. It wasn't like they had any other options. The grumbling stopped and an ominous silence filled the room as the steady hiss from the gas faded into nothing. "Get ready," Cloud cautioned, closing his eyes and holding the glowing materia out.

    "Go, now! _SHIELD!_ " Cloud almost screamed the last word as simultaneously from every nozzle in the walls and ceiling jets of fire burst forth. The world was one blinding yellow and red furnace before white triangles spun into being throughout the group. They traveled around, floating in the air before they gently twisted their way to the perimetre and vanished. The materia in Cloud's hands was shining but the shield spell, the single shield spell had been expanded to cover the entire group.

    Strife’s teeth were clenched and his eyes shut. The effort of holding such a large spell was costing him but it was effective. They stood in an invisible dome, fire raging outside its perimetre, devouring everything. For the moment there was nothing to do but wait and pray that Cloud would hold the spell but Avalanche was trying to hold a quick discussion, a hasty conference on what they should do next.

    "I don't like this," Cid hissed, gesturing towards Cloud.

    "You think _we_ like it?" Elena responded to him, breaking in on the conference. There was no way it could be a private discussion, not with them jammed in so closely.

    "Shut up, ShinRa! You're the one's who got us into this mess in the first place!" Cid and Barret both glared over at her. She was helping Rude support Reno who was slowly coming around. Sudden tension snapped between the two sides.

    "That's not the point here," Nanaki interrupted, bringing everyone back to the current situation. "Reeve won't be happy that the fire bombing didn't work, so we should use this time to decide what to do about him. Do we leave and return later to attack again?" he questioned looking around to each member of Avalanche. "Or do we face him now? And if we do, what are we going to do about him?" Nanaki thrust his muzzle in Cloud's direction. The question might have been about Reeve but it's true meaning was not lost.

    It was, after all, a question that had been haunting them all.

To be Continued...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I know you can't expand a spell in the game but by pretending that the characters are alive and aren't fighting in a 'turn based' system allows you to make the jump that the spell could possibly be expanded, if Cloud got some help from a materia that already expands things. Making a spell apply to everything, is after all, one form of expansion.


	13. Tifa

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 12 - Tifa

    Cloud was still holding the spell against the fire, forcing it past its usual parameters. He had to, or else the spell would snap back on to the person he intended it for. His face was twisted with the effort and his breathing was strained. The materia in his hands glowed and small sparks of energy travelled around them as Cloud forced them into a new use. Occasionally he'd grimace at the energy but he wasn't going to let go of either the orbs or the spell. _I can't... I may love Sephiroth but these are my friends... I can't just let them die..._

"I don't know what we _can_ do about him," Valentine murmured. "He does not feel like Jenova and even if that is just an act, why bother to do this? Jenova never cared about the lives of others."

    Nanaki nodded. "But who is he then?"

    "He is Cloud Strife. The true Cloud Strife," Sephiroth told them firmly. "He is the Cloud who could have been if Jenova never was," Sephiroth entered the conversation he'd hung back from. He wasn't coming from a neutral position and given that he would defend Cloud he'd felt if best to hold back for a bit.

    "Right, he's Cloud Strife," Cid grumbled. "Let's accept that for the minute. If we drag him with us we can always keep an eye on him but what about Reeve?"

    "Facing him now has got some advantages," Nanaki said.

    "That #$%&(*@ bastard!"

    The curse did not come from either Barret or Cid.

    "What?" The same voice questioned. "I work for ShinRa 'cause they pay me but they're tryin' to kill me now so I don't owe 'em nothin'. If you'll goin' after the Pres, then I'm with ya!" The trooper waved his gun enthusiastically and was joined by several others who shared his sentiments.

    "This is unexpected."

    "But I guess it does decide our course of action. What about you guys? Are you with us, against us or indifferent to the fact that your president just ordered your deaths?" The question was directed at the Turks.

    They looked at each other. Reno was now sitting in the cramped space, gingerly rubbing his midriff. "We're Turks," he said to his companions, coughing and spitting blood. "No one tries to kill a Turk and gets away with it. No one," he gasped, trying to find a comfortable position before he cast a black look at Cloud. "Didn't have to hit me that hard," he muttered.

    Outside the dome the fire thinned before flickering out entirely.

    "Gah!" Cloud let out an explosive breath as he let the spell go, falling to his knees in exhaustion. He was covered in sweat and gasping.

    Sephiroth's eyes narrowed as he took in the shifting stances of several people. He stepped forward, shielding Cloud and placed one hand on the Masamune. "I meant what I said. I will fight you, I will fight all of you if you try to hurt him." Behind him, Cloud picked up the Ultima Weapon and struggling, using it as a ladder, he rose and turned to face the assembled group.

    "You'd better get moving," he said tiredly, "if you want to get Reeve. It won't take him long to bring reinforcements. But..." Cloud paused for a moment. "Don't do anything you or the people might later regret."

    "Wait a second!" Barret roared as Nanaki and Vincent directed several troops in destroying one of the doors. "If you think I'm letting you out of my sight for an instant, Jenova, you've got another thing coming!"

    "No!" Sephiroth responded. His voice was quiet but full of power.

    "What do you mean no?" It was Cid's turn to shout.

    "I meant no. We are not accompanying you to face Reeve. It would be a waste of my time and Cloud's time. We have already dealt with the enemies we have made. You are more than capable of handling Reeve by yourselves and then getting to the _Highwind_." Sephiroth met their gazes. "It's parked up top, I believe."

    Anything else Sephiroth might have said then was drowned out by as the doors Vincent and Nanaki had been attacking broke, or rather disintegrated with a loud crash. "Let's go!" Nanaki ordered and most of the troops jumped at the note of authority in his tone and ran for the newly opened door.

    "Sephiroth," Barret grumbled, surprising emotion in his tone.

    "It's not Sephiroth, it's _him_ ," Tifa said, glaring at Cloud. "It has _always_ been him." Her voice quavered with barely controlled emotion.

    "Tifa," Cloud gasped, looking over at her. The movement was almost all he could take and a wave of dizziness swept over him. He'd used too much power today and needed to rest. That last spell had taxed already weakened reserves. _I can't fight her... not now... not like this... I don't **want** to fight her anyway._ But Tifa didn't look like she would accept a peaceful solution. _She really believes I am Jenova..!_ Cloud thought but he couldn't do anything more than that.

    Sephiroth stiffened slightly. Cloud didn't sound good. He sounded tired and from the shifting movements he could hear, Cloud was probably leaning against the Ultima Weapon for support but the white haired man couldn't risk a glance back. The Turks had stopped halfway to the door and were watching the scene with renewed interest. They could smell blood, fractures within something that appeared unified. "What is it, Tifa?" he asked her quietly.

    "It's him, isn't it?" She questioned in return. "He's the reason."

    "Yes," Sephiroth agreed with her quietly, pitching his voice so the Turks couldn't hear. "Neither of us are in any condition to face Reeve, Tifa," he added gently.

    "I don't care about Reeve," she hissed back at him, russet eyes flashing dangerously. "I thought it was Aeris, or one of a million other women you might have met. I _thought_ it was _me_ , that there was something wrong with me, but it's not any of that. It's him. The enemy you killed, that you said you hated is the one you love and you _dared,_ on that night, to hold me close, to give me hope in a future that was already dead. And after that you didn't even tell me, you just walked away..."

    "Tifa... I..." Her words brought a lot of things back. "I never said I hated him. I said I hated Jenova. I killed Jenova, not Cloud. I could never kill Cloud. It was not Aeris though, never Aeris. I cared for her but I did not love her and it has never been any other woman." Sephiroth reached out and brushed a tear away from Tifa's eye, long fingers cupping her face gently. "And it was never _you_ ," he whispered. "There is nothing wrong with you, Tifa but I cannot," Sephiroth paused, shaking his head slightly in the moments silence. "I do not," he began again, "love you in that way. I _do_ love you Tifa but as the sister I never had, not as my lover. I have always loved Cloud in that way. I always will."

    "There's nothing?" She looked up at him, tears still shimmering in her eyes. "There's nothing I can do to change that, is there?"

    "I'm sorry, Tifa, nothing." There wasn't anyway to soften the blow, not when she was intent on taking this tact.

    He only saw if because he was looking directly into her eyes at the time. Their dark garnet depths hardened, tears drying up immediately and her jaw setting. She shifted her weight slightly on to the balls of her feet, preparing. He only stopped her because she had to go around him to reach her target and by the time she moved he was already in motion to intercept her, his mako green eyes blazing.

    All the fidgeting, all the soft murmurs of indecision that had been in the room vanished at their sudden explosive moment and everyone's attention settled on them in the sudden silence.

    "No!" Tifa screamed, half-choking and struggling for all she was worth. "No!"

    Sephiroth held both her hands in a vice like grip. He wasn't going to let her go. With a quick movement he jerked, forcing her to raise her arms over her head. His mako eyes looked down at her but no where in their depths was a trace of the friendship he felt for her, there was only grim determination and icy calculation of the threat she represented. They were the eyes of the General he'd always be. Carefully he caught both wrists in one hand, still holding them above her head as he drew her up to look into his eyes.

    "No!" Tifa snarled and tried to kick him.

    He slapped her and immediately dropped his arm, lowering her to the ground and forcing her to her knees despite the glass that littered the floor. If she continued to struggle she'd just hurt herself but that would be her choice. He wasn't going to allow her this attack. He would allow no one this attack. Sephiroth ignored the looks of disbelief he was getting that he could treat a friend so. He closed his eyes and breathed deep to calm the sudden surge of rage that had claimed him. He looked back around at everyone, his eyes calmer, showing slight remorse but no apology for his actions. "I meant what I said. I _will_ protect him." They had to understand this point.

    Behind him he could almost feel the waves of disbelief and confusion coming from Cloud. They were directed at Tifa. _This is Tifa, Cloud,_ Sephiroth thought, wishing he could reach out to touch the blond's thoughts. _She is not the one you know. This is **my** Tifa, who sees you as nothing more than the boy from Nibelheim who grew up to be the worlds enemy and who has now found victory, even in his defeat, by taking her 'love' away._

::I know but...::

    Both Sephiroth and Cloud blinked in complete and utter astonishment.

    ::Sephiro..?::

    ::Cloud..? ...All I thought... all I wanted to do was touch your thoughts, to explain to you to stop the confusion I could feel.::

    ::We were linked on my world,:: Cloud thought slowly, considering. ::So I guess it's not impossible...:: He trailed off and Sephiroth could feel his mental shrug as he dismissed the matter, right before he was nearly drowned by the surge of love Cloud sent his way.

    Sephiroth frowned slightly, even as he returned the emotion. Through it all he could feel Cloud's exhaustion and he knew exactly how close the blond was to collapsing. They needed to get out of here soon. He looked back to Tifa who was still struggling in his grasp. She'd stopped screaming but was still making mewing noises as she tried to free herself.

    "Tifa," he said, bending over slightly to whisper in her ear. Matted though his hair was it still fell forward to provide them with a silver curtain of privacy. "I love him and that is all there is too it."

    "No! You cannot love him, you cannot love that murderer!"

    "I do love him, not Jenova but Cloud Strife, the boy who came from Nibelheim."

    "Why?" Tifa stopped struggling, ignoring her scraped and bleeding knees and looked at him. "Why? Why do you love him when he has done nothing?"

    Sephiroth blinked at her question. "Nothing?" He shook his head. She did not understand. "Cloud has done more for me than anyone. He looked at me, Jenova's Child, ShinRa's perfect emotionless General and saw the man beneath. He looked at me and saw the truth that while Hojo's experiments had given me strength and power beyond normal they had not made me inhuman. I still desired, still needed human touch and he saw that despite everything that was said about me and my mother, I _was_ still human and he loved me, even knowing the truth. How could I not love him in return?" Sephiroth pulled back from Tifa but he still held her contained. "That is why, Tifa, it has always been him and it will always be him," he finished.

    Tifa narrowed her eyes. "No!" she whispered, almost broken.

    "Tifa..." the voice was quiet. "I never meant to hurt you," Cloud continued softly, his voice trembling with exhaustion. "This is just what is. Neither of us can stop what we feel but we never wanted to hurt you. Tifa, you were my friend once, long ago when we were children. Can't you, can't we go back to that?"

    Tifa blinked once, slowly and for an instant her eyes softened, the fire that was raging calming but in a heartbeat that was gone. "You can dare to claim to have been my friend, to go back to a childhood we shared when you are the one who destroyed that? When you are the one who killed my father, who killed _everyone_ and burnt my town to the ground. You dare to say you never wanted to hurt me, that you still wish to be my friend?" She began struggling again with renewed ferocity, twisting and wrenching her wrists against Sephiroth's grip, unmindful of the damage she was inflicting upon herself.

    Cloud simply looked at her, his blue eyes wide with pain and confusion.

    "Tifa!" Sephiroth snapped, more sharply than he intended but he did not back down. "This is not the Cloud Strife you remember," he began, wondering if she would listen to the truth, if any of them would listen, let alone believe. "It is not the Cloud Strife any of you know. He didn't do that, he didn't kill your father, he didn't kill his _own_ mother, he didn't destroy Nibelheim. _Jenova_ did and she didn't even use that body. This Cloud Strife has no connection to any of that. He is not the one you hate..."

    ::Sephiroth...::

    The white haired man started and turned slightly in time to see Cloud's eyes roll back and his eyes close. He didn't even think as he threw Tifa towards Barret and held his arms out as he turned, falling to his own knees as he caught Cloud. The flat of the Ultima Weapon bumped gently against him before it clattered to the ground.

    "Cloud!" Sephiroth called but was reassured by the soft tickle of breath he could feel against his chest. He held him close before shifting his grip slightly and rising, Cloud now securely held in his arms. "We are not going to go attack Reeve now, that is your duty," he addressed his gathered audience. "I am going to walk out of that door and leave. You are _not_ going to try to stop me and you are _not_ going to try to hurt him or I will _not_ hold back. You can contact me through the usual methods but this _is_ what _I_ want and this _is_ what will be. This is no trick of Jenova's. She is dead and she will remain that way. This time, there is no way for her to return." Sephiroth finished but before he began walking he lowered himself slightly and after a few moments of carefully shifting his bundle he picked up the Ultima Weapon and flicked it across his back. The Masamune was already seethed at his side.

    With slow deliberate steps Sephiroth moved forward. He didn't deviate from his path and he didn't look at anyone. His gaze was fixed firmly ahead of him. The only sound was of his boots crunching on the broken glass. He walked out of the room and turned down the corridor with deliberate care, careful always not to disturb Cloud.

    And with that, they were gone.

To be Continued...


	14. Good Bye

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 13 - Good Bye

    Cloud closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of the wind against his skin and the gentle warmth of the sun. It was so peaceful here and nothing ever changed. It was, in its own way, perfect. He smiled as he reached out slightly. He could still feel him, even though he was asleep. He could still feel Sephiroth. The man had a solid warmth, a strength Cloud knew he could always turn to, one that would always be there for him. It was a comfort all of its own.

    Cloud shook his head slightly, opening his eyes and looking out at the endless waves of grass around him. He was here for a reason. He'd never come here unless there was one. It was just, without Sephiroth here, he had no idea what that might be. He'd never been here without Sephiroth.

   "Oh, there _is_ a reason," a hauntingly familiar voice hissed at him in the unknown tones of anger.

   Cloud spun and came face to face, eye to eye with a set of emerald green eyes, set in delicate features, that were twisted in the foreign emotion of hate and that was all framed by soft brown hair. "Aeris?" he questioned.

    "So... My murderer knows my name?" she hissed at him. There was angry, hateful recognition in her eyes and she held the Parasol ready to attack him.

    "Aeris..." Cloud choked, taken aback by this unknown woman. "I didn't... Sephiroth..." He tried to start but with each attempt her eyes flashed and he knew if he continued she would attack. She slowly began to circle around him, those green eyes examining every centimetre of him.

   "You didn't what?" she asked when she was behind him, causing him to jump slightly, the hairs on his skin rising, screaming danger. "You didn't kill me? Sephiroth did?" She paused briefly, making the statements questions and he could only stand there as she continued. "Oh, I know... Believe me, I _know_ ," she said as he gulped. "But that doesn't mean I have to be gracious about it. That I have to  like the fact that Sephiroth loves someone who bears my murderer's face."

    "Aeris... why are you here?" Cloud asked, now understanding who she was. This was Sephiroth's Aeris. Her rage towards him was understandable and remarkably well controlled.

    "I'm here because the Planet sent me. The attack Sephiroth blocked was only postponed. It can be renewed at anytime and it _will_ be if you are not true."

    "True?" he couldn't help but question.

    "If you are not truly what he believes you to be, if you are Jenova, Cloud Strife, you will die," she said as she completed her circuit. The words were said with a chilling note of finality. "What?" she added, after a moments silence, raising one eyebrow as she looked up at him. "You aren't going to try to defend yourself?" she questioned.

   Cloud looked back. Despite the anger that was twisting her features she was identical to the woman he had known. _Aeris..._ "If I truly  killed you then I have no defence, except to say that I am not that Cloud. I am not the one Jenova used."

    Aeris narrowed her eyes, those beautiful emerald orbs reduced to mere slits. "We will see about that," she said, holding one hand out over his chest. "We will _see,_ " she hissed, again as green energy arced through the space between them and began entering Cloud.

   Cloud stiffened but did not fight the Planets energy. He could feel it enter his heart and from there its warm power spread all through him. It covered his chest first, then pulses of energy shot up his neck into his brain. The world acquired a green tint over it's usual blue haze. Everything felt tingly as the power spread through every blood vessel, seeping into every muscle, every tendon, every nerve.

    It tingled but it did not burn and though she tried to hide it, Cloud could see the faint disappointment in Aeris' gaze. She had truly believed or hoped he was Jenova so that the Planet could hurt him. "Aeris, I am sorry if my presence causes you pain but I am not the Cloud Strife who killed you. And deep in your heart you know that, just as you know that it was not Cloud Strife who killed you. It was Jenova and despite the face she wore, you know you should hate only her. I am not Jenova, I have never been Jenova and she does not lie dormant within me. She cannot be reborn through me.

    "I am Cloud Strife. I grew up in the town of Nibelheim with nothing more than the desire to be stronger. I tried to join SOLDIER but I failed," Cloud continued to speak to her softly and as he related his story he tried to send her the images, his memories that accompanied his words. "When I was sixteen, I returned to Nibelheim with Sephiroth and Zack. Sephiroth went insane and it was thought that when I threw him into the Mako pit he died. For five years after that I was a lab experiment, a specimen for Hojo and during that time, despite my failure as a Sephiroth clone I did get the powers of a SOLDIER. After those years passed Sephiroth returned and wanted to become the Lifestream itself. This is not exactly what happened her but it is what I lived and for both of us it is the past."

   Cloud looked into Aeris's eyes as the green tingle and haze faded. She glared back at him and before he could speak again she spoke. "Because it is the past, it should not be forgotten. in this case the past is just as important as the present." She stopped and sighed tiredly. "But," Aeris began again in a new voice, one of slight resignation as she looked to the ground. "I can see now, the Planet can see now, you are true. You are not Jenova hiding as Cloud Strife." As Aeris lowered the Parasol into a more casual position she looked back at him, searching his face. "I have seen the man you are Cloud Strife. Make him happy or _I_ will not forgive you." She snapped turning in the long grass and walking away, her image fading with each step she took.

   "Aeris," Cloud whispered, wiping away a tear with the cuff of his glove. "I will. I promise you, just as I have promised myself." He looked around in the sudden silence. Despite Aeris' sudden departure it didn't feel like his purpose for being here had been fulfilled. There was still something that had to happen.

    Cloud looked around slowly and smiled when he saw a shadow in the grass. A thin shadow that even in the shifting grass he could see the outline of a shoulder guard. "Yuffie?" His voice was soft with the question. He didn't want to disturb the quiet about him.

   The ninja girl turned and her eyes widened in surprise. "By Da-chao! Cloud!" she exclaimed. "Where have you been? The others told me you were gone but my father said I had to say in Wutai. He said something about perfecting a change for the pagoda. That's gross though! Ain't no way I'm gonna change! That technique's icky! Besides which, I bet 'em all without one so why do I gotta?"

    Cloud smiled. Yuffie hadn't changed. "Yuffie, you wouldn't believe it if I told you," he began, answering her earlier question with a challenge that would focus her attention back on him. He didn't have infinite time so he couldn't be distracted.

    "Oh yeah? Why don't you try me Gramps?"

    "Hey, since when have I rated a 'Gramps'?" He questioned somewhat indignantly. Yuffie could always turn things around. "I never rated a Gramps before," he added, "and I'm not that much older than you, child."

   "Yeah well you rate one now. Anyone I talk to in some mystical dream world has gotta rate a gramps. This ain't my scene, this is an old person thing," Yuffie's eyes twinkled mischievously.

    "This isn't exactly a dream, Yuffie," Cloud said with a sudden serious note in his voice. "

    "Yeah, so what is it then?" she asked, sliding up to him.

   "This is a place where souls meet and the opportunity for me to say good-bye." As soon as he said it he knew that's what he was there for. To tie up those loose ends, those few remaining desires that would have forever hung over his head. You could not jump from one world to another with no regrets. This way, he had a chance to say good-bye, to cut the threads that bound him to that world before he wove them into the new world. _No regrets, Sephiroth. I will have no regrets,_ he thought with a soft smile.

    "Cloud," Yuffie breathed, her eyes wide. "What do you mean?"

   "I mean... I mean to say good-bye, Yuffie," Cloud told her.

    "What?" There was alarm in her voice.

    "It's not like that, Yuffie. Nothing's wrong. It's just that I've discovered where my life lies and it's not here. I'm not going to die, Yuffie, not for a very long time. I just won't be able to see you again, so this is 'Good-bye.'"

   Yuffie's face lost some of her alarm. "You're weird but if you're sure about this then nothing I'm gonna say will change it." She jumped at Cloud, wrapping her arms around his neck and placing a quick kiss on his cheek. "Well then Gramps," she said to the now surprised Cloud. "It's never 'Good-bye,' it's just 'See you later!'" With that she jumped back, her usual mischievous glint in her eyes.

    Cloud smiled gently. Yuffie could always be counted upon to put the best face on things but she was predictable. He held up a small bag. "Sorry Yuffie, they're _my_ materia."

    "Hey, no fair, Gramps!" Yuffie complained. "If you are leaving then they rightfully belong to me! I mean, I'm the one you said 'Good-bye' to first. Doesn't that count for something, and don't I get a going away present?" Yuffie pouted as she began to fade.

    "Sorry Yuffie, I might still need them but you  know where I got them all from, right? You _could_ hunt them down again."

    "That's no fun!"

    "Train hard, Yuffie, fight hard, live well," Cloud said as she disappeared entirely.

    Cloud looked around in the sudden silence. Yuffie's presence was dynamic to say the least and the field felt quieter with her gone. He sighed slightly. That wasn't being fair to Yuffie, all his friends had vivacious personalities.

    "Hey, kid!"

   Cloud turned to face Cid, who was leaning against the Venus Gospel, cigarette hanging from his mouth. The man looked strangely at peace in the shifting grasses.

    "I'll give you one thing kid, when you do things you don't go halfway, do you?" Cid's eye's twinkled. "But do you want to tell me why, when I was about to steal the blankets back from Vincent that when I roll over, I find myself awake, dressed and standing in a field facing you?"

    "Do you want the long or short version?"

    "This is me! The short! I got better things to do than listen to your babbling."

    "You found you love with Vincent, which was surprising. I have found my love but it is something that is even more surprising and it means that I won't be coming back. I'm not dead, I've just gone somewhere else so I can be happy."

   "So that's what that red light was," Cid nodded to himself an unfamiliar note of understanding in his tone.

    "That's right. A summoning from one world to another. I was needed here, more so than I am needed there," Cloud explained, as much as to Cid as to himself. The day was going to be full of these little revelations.

    "Then this is Good-bye?" Cid questioned quietly.

    Cloud nodded slightly.

    Cid sighed and looked around, his face suddenly flushed with colour. "Stupid," he muttered. He looked up again at Cloud, a sudden welter of emotion reflected in his eyes. "I shouldn't feel so stupid about this," he snorted. "But I gotta thank you. I just can't just let you go without thanking you."

    "Cid, what are you talking about?" Cloud questioned in confusion.

   "I gotta thank you," he said again. "The Rocket.... I know the Rocket's gone so the town doesn't really have a name but without you, you spiky haired jerk, the Rocket would never have launched and I would never have gotten my dream. I never would have seen space, have seen the Planet and everything else. So for everything, I gotta thank you."

    "Cid... I..."

   "Don't you dare! Don't you go telling me you only went into space for the Huge Materia or that you only came to the town to get the 'Bronco! 'Cause I don't care. It doesn't matter why, the fact remains that if you didn't come, it never would have happened and now you're going on some other adventure so I had to thank you." Cid looked up at him, a smirk on his face. "You have fun now and," he held out his hand, a battered packet of cigarettes in his palm. "When you remember Cid and the team, ya smoke one, ya hear, ya smoke one to remember us by!"

   "Cid... I..." Cloud reached out and gingerly took the very dented package of cigarettes. The cardboard looked like it would disintegrate any second. "I've never had a cigarette in my life!"

    Cid moved and slammed his hand down on Cloud's back. "Well, it's about time ya did. Ya remember me now, from time to time," he added as he began to fade away. "But be careful, those things'll kill ya, SOLDIER."

   "I'll remember you, Cid," Cloud murmured, tucking the cigarettes into a pocket. "I don't think I could ever forget," he added, rubbing his back where Cid had got him as he wondered who would be next.

    "Hello Cloud."

    Cloud jumped at the sudden voice. "Nanaki, don't _do_ that," he breathed as he turned. The big cat was sitting in the long grass, head resting lightly on his front paws. He raised his head as Cloud sat down to face him.

    "I wasn't really expecting you," Nanaki said by way of apology.

    "Expecting me..?" Cloud asked slowly. "So you've been here before?" How else could the big cat have known where he was?

    Nanaki nodded. "Only once or twice. I talk to Grandpa sometimes but today, I guess I'm here to talk to you... Cloud, where are you? What happened?"

    Cloud smiled. He would be explaining for a little while yet. "I'm in another world, Nanaki, a different Planet. I was summoned because I was needed and I am here to say Good-bye." That was about as condensed as Cloud could make the story without going into too much detail. If he started going into detail he would worry his friends because he didn't have the time to explain. And could they really accept the truth, that Sephiroth could be anything but an enemy, when it was clear that Sephiroth's Avalanche couldn't accept him? He was here to put their fears to rest, not to give them new ones. And that is what he would do.

    Nanaki blinked and nodded slowly, considering. "Grandpa once said to me that the world we saw was not the only world, that there were hundreds of possibilities and that every future, every action and decision had to be played out somewhere. You're not coming back, are you?" he asked suddenly.

    "No." Cloud shook his head with the simple answer. "I'm not even one hundred percent sure how I got here but I know, I can feel that it's not something which is easily repeatable. I can be happy here though, not plagued by the... " Cloud trailed off. "If I remained I would be plagued by the past, by what I know could have been but here, it's a different past," he began again, reconstructing the sentence to reflect more of the truth. "I can be happy here and I will be."

   "No life ever really comes to an end, the path it follows just changes. Our journeys will continue, yours will just be apart from ours, and if we travel long enough, we will met each other again."

    "Perhaps we will. Considering that I never thought this was possible, who knows what the future will bring. Be happy Nanaki, and fight hard against the Gi. I know you won't let them win," Cloud held his hand out towards Nanaki.

    Nanaki lifted his paw, placing it in Cloud's hand but he was careful to retract his claws. "You live well too Cloud and thank you for helping me to grow so that I can see things now with different eyes. Good-bye Cloud, for now." The big cat closed his eyes as he faded from view.

    "Good-bye, Nanaki. Thank you for giving us wisdom and the knowledge of how to continue. Live well, Nanaki." The big cat's presence faded.

    Cloud leaned back in the long grass, looking up into an impossibly blue sky that mirrored his eyes. He could still feel him, feel Sephiroth. The man was in the back of his thoughts, not dominating like last time but a solid comforting presence. If it hadn't been there, if he hadn't been able to remember why he was doing this, what was waiting for him, he knew he wouldn't have been able to do this. Say good-bye to his friends, his old life with a smile and comforting words for them all. It would have been too painful. But Sephiroth was waiting, the same and yet so different from his world. That was something he could live for and the reason he was not depressed saying good-bye. And really, as Nanaki said perhaps they would meet again. They were friends, so they could never really be apart.

    "You shouldn't fall asleep in the dream realm. You never know when you'll wake up."

    "Vincent!" Cloud sat up, looking at the soft spoken man. His red clothes made a brilliant splash of colour against the green and blue of the grass and sky.

    Vincent looked back, examining him carefully. "You look older, Cloud," he finally came to the conclusion, flicking his hair over his shoulder, out of the wind.

    "I feel older," Cloud replied. There wasn't much more he could say. Vincent was adept at seeing the truth. "But I am happy."

    "You're going away."

    It was not a question but a simple statement. Cloud nodded anyway as he responded. "I always thought it would be you who would disappear but I guess you've now got reasons not to."

    It was Vincent's turn to nod, although his expression remained as blank as always. "And you have reasons to go. Someone you have found."

   "I have, in the last place I would have ever thought to look. I am just lucky that it looked for me." Cloud smiled but he couldn't help the feeling that Vincent would see that something was wrong, that he would push for more detail, although he was not usually one who pried into the affairs of others. There was something in his eyes, in the way he shifted his weight slightly, he was going to do something unexpected. Cloud narrowed his eyes considering. Despite his connection with to everyone involved, Vincent might be able to see some logic in the truth. He couldn't do anything about it, Cloud's decision was made but he might benefit from knowing that Lucrete's son didn't always self destruct.

    "There is something else, something you haven't told the others," Vincent sad. His statement, made before he could volunteer the information was enough of a question.

    "There is," Cloud acknowledged. "I haven't told the others because there is nothing you can do. My decision is made and the information would only worry them, although in time they may come to understand. Nanaki though, understands the concept of parallel worlds well enough and that's what here it. It isn't a mirror, with everything reflected but a different world where the events in our world occurred as well, although there were some changes."

    "Changes?"

    "I was the one who wielded the Masamune. I was the one Jenova inhabited. In the North Crater, it was I who called the Meteor and I who died when Avalanche came." Cloud hung back from saying the truth. Something said to him, it felt to him that once that fact was uttered, it would all be over.

    "If you were the one Avalanche fought then..." Vincent began softly, understanding beginning to light in his eyes although he could not see Cloud's reluctance.

   "Then," Cloud nodded, swallowing hard. "It was Sephiroth who lead Avalanche but that is not this worlds only difference," he continued past the truth in a rush. "Sephiroth was always Jenova's Child but he was also Cloud Strife's lover. But that ended when the Cloud of this world and Jenova physically merged into one being." He didn't want to explain but _had_ to explain what he knew of this world. If the truth was too be known, then the _whole_ truth should be known. "Somehow that Cloud managed to trap Jenova in his body so that when it died, she would too and it was in an attempt to free herself from that, Meteor was called. Sephiroth and Avalanche killed Cloud and in killing Cloud killed Jenova and stopped Meteor. Then they went on with their lives until ShinRa decided to clone Cloud and bring Jenova back. And that's when, about a month ago, I began having dreams in which I loved Sephiroth. That was him calling for me and eventually I answered."

   Vincent nodded although Cloud could see that he was troubled. It was a lot to take in all at once. "That is what happened here, Vincent. Jenova is dead now and this world can be at peace. Is it so wrong for me to stay here to be happy? I am happy here, happy in a way I cannot be there." Cloud paused. He didn't have to justify this to Vincent, if he said he was happy then that would be enough. "You can tell the others, if you think it will help them but please remember that I was not forced to do this, I chose to come here and I am happy. I am not plagued by the guilt and regret that I didn't realise I had until this happened. But they are gone now and I am happy. Vincent, live your life so that you can be happy as well. Don't think it's 'sin' because happiness is also a part of life. Be well, Vincent."

    "You be well, Cloud," Vincent said as he began to fade. His face had lost the faint disbelief it had borne at Cloud's initial explanation and now he seemed contented. As for sin, my sin will come now if I cannot be happy. Good-bye Cloud. Be at peace."

    Cloud smiled at the words. For Vincent that was an open declaration of his feelings when he usually kept so quiet but it was reassuring. Cid was getting to him. "Good-bye my friend," he said finally.

    Cloud closed his eyes, gathering himself. Despite everything, the next good-byes would be the hardest. They were, after all, the people he had fought with the longest, those who had seen everything and who had been there at the very beginning, who would be the most betrayed by what seemed the truth. Sephiroth. Their mortal enemy, his beloved. _What am I going to tell them..? They're gonna push for an explanation beyond what I want to give, beyond what I can give... And it wouldn't be fair to tell them to ask Vincent..._ Cloud looked up at the sky, eyes shimmering with concern. _My love lies here, my future. I **know** that but without causing them pain, without betraying them, how do I make them see?_

    "You stupid, dumb, cocky, spiky haired jerk!"

    Cloud bolted upright to come face to face with the barrel of the Missing Score. All thoughts of betrayal left him when he saw Barret, trembling slightly although his gun arm was steady. "Barret..?"

    "You stupid bastard! If Reeve was giving you trouble, why didn't you tell us?" Barret roared as he lowered his arm. "And then you go and vanish without a trace! Tifa's been worried sick! You inconsiderate jerk, you should have told us!"

    "Barret... I... It all happened so fast I didn't have a chance to tell you! And it wasn't like I intended to vanish without a trace. _That_ was unexpected for me as well!" Cloud snapped at Barret, angry that the man could so easily and completely blame him for things that were no one's fault.

    Barret blinked. "You mean, you _really_ have gone somewhere?" he questioned, suddenly quiet. All his anger, his bravado seemed to flow out of him all at once. He looked at Cloud through eyes that begged him to say it wasn't so.

    Cloud sighed. "I have," he said, losing his own anger because it was just a useless shield against emotion. "I really am going away forever. I'm only here to say Good-bye. But Barret, believe me when I say this is for the best. It is a chance for me to be truly happy."

    "What about us? What about Tifa?" Barret roared, his anger flaring. "I thought I was wrong about you but you really _do_ only care for yourself, don't you?"

   "Now you know that's not fair! I care about you all but I have to do what is right for me! Suffering just to please everyone else is not right and you know that. If you are truly my friend then you know I have to do what's right for me," Cloud screamed at Barret. The man had the gall to call him selfish!

    "So it's forever?"

    "Of course it's for forever. That's why I'm here, why you're here;. To say Good-bye. Until the next life, this is forever but knowing my luck my train to forever will probably be searched by ShinRa and I'll  have to bail right back into Midgar."

    "Yeah, you always were the cause of most of Avalanche's problems. I just wanted to stop mining Mako and save the world, but then _you_ have to go drag us into a real fight..." Barret paused. "You lead us against the real evil, we'll miss you but if you say it's for the best then I guess you are right."

    Cloud blinked at Barret. The man as always was quick to anger but when it was a friend he was equally quick to take their word, to understand the situation they were in. But it was startling to see him change and the emotion in his voice was not usual. "Barret..."

   "I'll miss you kid, where ever you're going but if ya ever get in a fracas, ya holler, ya hear? You've always been the real leader of Avalanche. Took me a while to see it but I guess I always knew that from the minute you walked in, ya practically took over the show. So if ya ever need us, ya holler, and we'll be there." Barret smiled at Cloud. The unusual expression highlighted the white of his teeth. "Cloud, I'm sorry about before..."

   "It's all right, Barret. If I didn't know this was for the best, if I was seeing this from your position I'd be saying the same thing. But me going away is for the best. I'll explain it to Tifa so she'll understand. there is nothing for me there Barret but the future in the place I am is before me. I'm not dead, I've just gone somewhere else... Nanaki or Valentine could explain it better," Cloud added with slight exasperation.

    "Yeah, but I wouldn't understand it," Barret continued to smile. "I'll see ya at the end of the line Strife, so don't you dare jump trains on me."

    "Be well, Barret. Live well and say bye to Marlene for me."

    "I will," Barret got out before he faded completely.

   Cloud looked around before closing is eyes, briefly steeling himself for what, who was to come. _Tifa..._ He cared for her, not in the way she wanted but he did care and they had known each other for so long, had been through so much together... She was his friend, they were all his friends but Tifa had been there a _very_ long time. He reached out, brushing lightly against the presence that was Sephiroth seeking reassurance.

    "Hello Cloud," the voice was quiet and came from behind him but he knew who it was. There was no way he could not know.

   Cloud turned slowly to see Tifa materialise before him. She was dressed in her fighting uniform, white shirt, shorts, boots and those gloves. Her hair was mostly tied back but her fringe (bangs) still fell forward to give her face a soft frame. Her lips were parted in a soft smile and she looked at him through sparkling eyes that shone with faint hope but a deeper resignation.

    She knew. Softly, slowly and in the silence of his mind Cloud breathed a grateful sigh of relief. His decision was made. He was going to go away no matter what she said or did but it was going to be easier to say good-bye because she was not crying, because she knew that trying to stop him would be futile.

    "Tifa," Cloud began with a slight smile. "It's good to see you."

    "It's good to see you too Cloud. We didn't know what had happened but I'm glad you are safe. The worst is not knowing what happened."

    "I know, that is why I am here."

    She looked at him, that faint smile and hope fading and tears beginning to form in her eyes. "You're going, aren't you?"

   He nodded. "Yes, that's what that light was. It was my call to somewhere else." The explanation wasn't too good but he wasn't about to say he was going away with Sephiroth. She wouldn't understand and it would only upset her, far more than she already was. "Tifa, I'm not dead. Somewhere else is not that realm. It's the place my future lies," Cloud sighed. The next bit would seal it. "This world, Tifa, the world were we fought Sephiroth offers me a future containing only grief, sadness and old memories. Tifa, even if I stay with you, in 50 or 60 years time you will die, all our friends will die and I will be alone, living with nothing more than the memories of what was. I would have to watch our children die, our children's children, down through the years and I couldn't stand that. I couldn't, I can't be alone forever... This place that I am is different. Jenova still ravaged the Planet, killing the last Cetera and she was still destroyed but it happened differently so that I will not be alone forever if I stay here." Cloud finished the explanation, holding back the flinch as he bent the truth. But he hadn't lied to her.

    _Omittance is the same as lying._

_It's necessary this time. I can't be silent now and I have to tell her something!_

The battle raged in his mind but the decision had been made long ago and nothing showed in his eyes as he looked earnestly at Tifa.

   Tifa closed her eyes briefly, holding back the tears. "It's okay Cloud," she whispered, opening her eyes with a soft, sad smile. "I know," her voice was firm despite the emotion that threatened to overwhelm her. "I guess I've always known, somewhere inside, when I meet you in Midgar that things had changed, that we weren't meant to be. If you'd never left Nibelheim... Maybe." She sighed deeply. "But that's not what happened. That's not what is. I know we're not meant to be but it's only know that I can see, that I can understand why at times you have been distant, why it is better this way."

    "Tifa," Cloud smiled. In the face of her honesty that was obviously hurting her he couldn't say much else. "I _will_ miss you and I will see you again, some day, just not for a very long time. You be well in that time." He reached over to her, gently taking her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. "Be well, Tifa, the world is too large for sorrow alone."

    Tifa looked up at him, diamond tears sparkling in the corners of her eyes but she smiled softly. "I will Cloud. Live the life you want and don't regret... Good-bye," she sighed as she faded. "Good-bye Cloud."

    "Good-bye Tifa," Cloud sighed into the once more empty plain. He'd done it. He'd said good-bye to everyone, said good-bye to one world so he could move to the other. Now all that was left was for him to let go with his heart and embrace the other. All he had to do...

    "That's not quite true!"

    Cloud's heart stopped. No, she couldn't be here. He could face everyone else but he couldn't face her. How are you meant to look into the eyes of one you had loved briefly, as you had loved Tifa and tell her that you are going away with the one who killed her? It wasn't something a mortal should have to do.

    "Cloud, calm down!" That voice came again. "I know exactly what's going on."

   Cloud barely breathed but his heart started again as he slowly cracked open one eye. "You do?" He asked timidly, half expecting the pain of some attack to sear through him.

    "I do, and if you relax for an instant and remember, you'll see that this is what I have been telling you to do all along."

    The blond frowned, but opened his eyes to look at Aeris. She was, as the previous Aeris had been, bathed in a gentle green glow but she was immaculate. Her pink dress the perfect counterpart for her large green eyes. And the red of her jacket surprisingly didn't not clash with the pink but rather complimented it and was softened by it. The red instead brought out the highlights in her long braid of hair. "You have?" He could remember her voice telling him that it wasn't his fault, ordering him not to torture himself over her death but he couldn't remember much more.

    "I have, although I am honest enough to admit that Sephiroth was a big surprise. I thought you'd get together with Tifa, but you were never happy with the easy road were you?" She grinned at him. She was so different from the previous Aeris. Sephiroth's Aeris.

    "Cloud," the green eyed girl began. "Don't get me wrong. If Sephiroth was standing before me I would have a very hard time holding back my anger. But I know that the Sephiroth you are going to isn't the one who killed me. And now I know why after we discovered that the enemy was Sephiroth, why you were sad. Cloud," she breathed, making sure he was listening to her every word. "I am happy for you. Believe me. It doesn't matter how I feel, you are the one who needs to be happy."

    "Aeris, I..."

    "Don't feel that you are betraying me!" Aeris said firmly, cutting off his objections. "I only wanted you to be happy. I didn't want to make you unhappy so if going to Sephiroth is going to make you happy then I am happy for you." She smiled at him. "Truly I am."

    "How have you been?" Cloud changed the subject. If she already knew what was happening then there was no need to discuss it further and despite the pleased and understanding face she showed, he had no desire to discover how thin the fasard was.

    "Good. Bored but good and any more than that I cannot say. It's just not allowed for the death to speak of these things. Reeve though sends his regards. He want you to know that he is happy that his prediction was wrong."

    "His prediction?" The man behind the stuffed mog had made lots of predictions but Cloud had long ago given up trying to keep them straight.

    "Silly!" Aeris laughed. "You know the prediction he made when we first saw him, the one that said that to be happy you had to lose everything. He's glad that he was wrong."

    "Wait a second... Reeve's dead?"

    Aeris looked sad for an instant. "I'm sorry Cloud, but his death was something that had to happen. He didn't want it but in the end he was happy to sacrifice his life to stop Jenova. He was her final strike. He'd be here now but he has already merged with the Lifestream."

    "I... uh... What happened?" Cloud couldn't help but blurt. He'd been so preoccupied trying to hide what had happened to him that he hadn't bothered asking what had happened to his friends.

    "Nothing Cloud. Nothing that hasn't already been handled. As the world you are going to is free of Jenova so too, now is the one you are leaving. The battles are finally over and we can all be free." Aeris lent over to him, whispering the last in his ear as if to say it a loud would be to shatter it's truth.

    She pulled back, smiling at him with flower in her hand. "Anyway Cloud, you can't be here much longer. I came to say Good-bye and to give you a message to give to _him._ You tell him, from me, that if he hurts you, I will haunt him forever!" She smiled at him, that angelic special smile that had graced her face at the end as she gently pressed the flower into his hand. "Tell him and be happy Cloud," She added as she faded, leaving him alone with the smell of flowers.

    Cloud smiled in return. He couldn't help it, the irony had not escaped him. One Aeris warning him, the other warning Sephiroth. "I will Aeris, I will."

    He looked around. The sky was still blue, the grass was still waving gently in the wind but something was inexplicably telling him that it was time to go. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply and sighed. It was time. He couldn't delay it any longer. "Good-bye, everyone. I will see you again."

   As the last word fell from his lips everything twisted and rushed past him and was gone. The last tied had been undone and he now was firmly placed in one world. And then the oblivion of sleep claimed him as the exhaustion he knew his body had to be feeling caught up, once again, with his mind.

To be Continued...


	15. Meetings

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 14 - Meetings

    Cloud burrowed into the warmth that surrounded him, curling up contentedly as he pulled the blankets more securely around him. He was warm, he was comfortable, he was safe and he was slightly tired and he would have gone back to sleep but for the soft voice that cursed occasionally. With an inaudible sigh Cloud rolled over sleepily and opened his eyes. He didn't fight the dazzling smile that appeared at the sight that greeted him.

   Sephiroth. How could he not smile at the man who was his life, even if at the moment, he was not his usual elegant self? _Baka,_ he berated himself gently. _You love the man, not the elegance and he is doing his best to get it back._ Cloud's smile turned into a grin at the thought. And he could remember the admonishment, serious at the time but now in the present it was a reminder of what they had endured and a testament to what he loved. 'You can worry about his hair later.' He could and he was but it appeared Sephiroth was also worried about his hair because the man had gathered its tangled mass over one shoulder and held a brush and comb, which he was alternatively attempting to run through the strands. And that's what was causing his cursing.

    He had some of the tangle undone but the bulk of his hair looked snarled beyond all hope. Cloud couldn't help the soft chuckle that escaped his throat as Sephiroth cursed again when the comb caught once again in a stubborn knot. The blond gulped as the noise brought Sephiroth's full attention to him. _How could I..._ The thought swirled in his head as he drowned in emerald. _How could I ever think that he isn't elegant?_

    When Sephiroth moved, tangled hair or no, he flowed, more graceful than a hunting cat. But his eyes weren't hard, they were soft and open, full of love and a faint concern. He was the most beautiful thing Cloud had seen in his entire life. Gently Sephiroth sat beside him, brushing his hand over Cloud's forehead. "How are you feeling?"

   Cloud blushed slightly when he realized how open his gaze had been but he managed to answer the question. "... 'm fine, just..." A yawn interrupted him. "Sleepy," he finished with a weak grin.

    "So sleep," Sephiroth nodded understandingly.

    "Nah," Cloud shook his head, pulling himself up so that he was sitting facing the white haired man. "If I do now, I won't be able to later," he cast an eye to the window where the afternoon sun was streaming in.

    Sephiroth smiled faintly, "You never miss a thing."

    Cloud blinked. "I miss plenty," he replied, looking around the room again, anything to avoid those beautiful eyes. He felt his body stiffen slightly and his breath became tight as he unconsciously readied himself for anything. He knew this room. It did not hold good memories. Wide windows that let in all the light, perfect antique furniture arranged in a traditional manner, a hand woven rug on the floor and a few pot plants meticulously maintained. Nibelheim Mansion. ShinRa. Hojo.

   "Shhh... It's all right," Sephiroth murmured, moving closer and placing a hand on Cloud's shoulder. "You're safe now, it's safe now. It started here for both of us. It will end here."

    "I don't..." Cloud gasped, trembling. ShinRa. ShinRa had been here. Hojo. Hojo had been here. Pain. Pain was here. How could it be safe? His body did not believe the words. "I don't understand."

    "Shhh..." The noise was soft, comforting and did not contain mockery. "I know but it _will_ end here. We'll both begin anew." Sephiroth gathered Cloud into his arms as he spoke, stroking his fingers through blond spiky hair. Spiky hair that was, as always, annoyingly free of tangles.

    "I don't understand." The voice was stronger this time and Sephiroth felt a pair of arms reach out to return his embrace, sliding under his coat to settle around his waist.

    "It wasn't the same for you?" Sephiroth questioned but didn't pause for a reply. "I meet Cloud here. I lost him here and now with you, it will start again. And this time, I'm not going to let it end."

   "It wasn't the same," Cloud responded, nodding as understanding came to him. "I told you, we were never lovers, not in my world but it did start here and he died here, the first time. My dream died here, both of them.* It will be good to start here again." He took a deep breath, calming himself.   
    
       Cloud sighed. This place for him only held bad memories but  for Sephiroth they were obviously mixed. Nibelheim was an important place  to him. Life, death, love and hate. They were all here. It was the beginning  and the end, the alpha and omega and now he wanted to make it a new alpha.  _My dream ended here but my life started here... Perhaps I too can start anew._ Cloud's thoughts were abstract, his memories of his home town clashing with each other. He sighed. It was important to Sephiroth, so he could start again. _I will start anew as well,_ the decision was barely a conscious one. "Tell me?" The question left his lips before he was aware of it.

  "Hmm?" Sephiroth responded in a noncommittal tone, he was too lost in his own memories of the past.

  "Tell me what happened here. What happened to you and your Cloud? Nothing good happened here for me." Cloud fell silent as Sephiroth turned his full attention back to him. His emerald eyes held no accusation just remembered pain. Cloud reached out, twining his fingers through Sephiroth's. "I'm here now. Remember I love you, just as he loved you, _I_ love you." Cloud felt the sudden surety of his words. Nibelheim was important. He had to know and knowing would help him put his own memories to rest.

   "Cloud..."

  "You won't lose me. Jenova is dead. Nibelheim was an ending  for both of us, it will now become _our_ beginning."

    "Tell me? I've told you what happened to me but I have only bits and pieces of what happened to your Cloud. Tell me." This time the words weren't a request.

   "It could take a while."

   Cloud smiled at the sudden impulse that gripped him. "Fine," he answered, gently disentangling his fingers from Sephiroth's, relieving him of the comb at the same time. "I'll comb your hair out while you tell me."

   "You just want to play with my hair."

   "Always." Cloud sat up, taking the brush as well and after he had placed them beside him he placed his hands on the white haired mans shoulders, shifting them both so that Sephiroth's back was to him. "Now tell me," he said softly gathering Sephiroth's tangled hair in his hands and letting it fall over the Sephiroth's black coat, combing it roughly with his fingers before he once again took up the brush and comb.

   Sephiroth closed his eyes, tilting his head back as he felt Cloud's fingers gently brush against his scalp. "It was on a mission to Nibelheim when I first met Cloud," he began, feeling his memories claim him. "It sounds absurd, he was just a child then but I'm sure, when I first saw those eyes, I'm sure I felt something then. I loved him from then. We didn't even talk. We couldn't. I was ShinRa's up and coming General and he was just a brat from the town of Nibelheim. It was a standard mission, to check on the reactor and on some reports of rebels in the area. Avalanche wasn't the only group looking to bring ShinRa's downfall."

   Sephiroth snorted. "I can still remember President ShinRa."  He paused before continuing in a mocking tone, a raspy impersonation of the dead President. "We must be ever vigilant. 'The price of peace is eternal vigilance.' I think he said something like that. Humph! He meant 'The price of _power._ ' That's all peace was to ShinRa but I have to admit that when I first saw Cloud, on some level I was happy for that peace.

   "He was playing. I remember at the time he was just a few years younger than myself. I think he was playing some sort of chase game but the first thing that came to me when I saw him, running across the path of the soldiers chasing a young girl, was to wonder if the mountaineer's put jewels into the eyes of their children. _Sapphires..._ I remember thinking that, and the girl had garnets for eyes. Beautiful. And that one fleeting glimpse, two children playing, running through the streets of their town, enjoying the peace was all I saw of him. I still remember it though."

  Cloud slowly raised the brush, listening intently and began to run it down through Sephiroth's hair. It 'brrr'ed' catching on the snarls but he continued, making several passes over all of the hair before selecting a skein about a third of the mass of tangles and combing it from the bottom, working upwards, leaving liquid silk in the wake of the knots. He smiled softly as tendrils wrapped themselves around his fingers. He focused on the hair between his fingers, keeping his breathing regular as images and feelings accompanied Sephiroth's words. Wonder at a child playing. Awe at the beauty they had. _That is me,_ Cloud thought with his own sense of awe. _That is how he sees me._

   "Go on..." Cloud whispered quietly as Sephiroth paused.

  "After that," Sephiroth sighed, leaning back into Clouds hands as they worked at his hair. "After that, the next time I saw Cloud was in Midgar. He was being paraded past 'The General' with the rest of the SOLDIER pre-lim's. I still noticed him though. Those eyes. It amuses me sometimes, people say the most intriguing thing about SOLDIER's is their mako glowing eyes. He didn't need that. His eyes glowed anyway."

   Sephiroth sighed. "I don't even remember who my partner was at that time, not anymore. They weren't... None of them were special to me. They slept with me for my title, for the prestige it gave them being known as my lover and I slept with them for the physical release. We both got something but it wasn't a very good way to live. I do remember though that they weren't happy that I decided to drop the relationship that evening. There wasn't much they could do about it, no revenge they could extract. While I was leaving them for another, that other wasn't even aware of it at the time," Sephiroth smiled.

   "Captured by a pair of blue eyes that knew nothing of their power over others. I loved him then. It was agony. I loved him but I couldn't do anything about it. He was still a SOLDIER pre-lim and as the General I couldn't show any interest above the norm in any of the cadet's. I kept watch, as much as I could but I always felt that my protection, such as it was, wasn't enough. He was so beautiful and he was in a city were others would be only to happy to exploit that beauty and innocence." He white haired man shivered in a sudden memory. "I couldn't protect him... Not in the way I wanted to. Not in the way he needed to be."

   "I was so careful. I was sure that _no one_ knew how much I was interested in the one cadet named Cloud Strife. But someone must have figured out something. I must have said something, done something, looked at a time when someone was watching because it was... I almost lost him before anything had any time to develop." Sephiroth almost sobbed the last sentence.

  "Shhh..." Cloud cooed, wrapping his arms around Sephiroth's body and resting is head against the white haired man's neck. "I'm here. Nothing's wrong. I won't leave you. Nothing happened." He had felt the sudden stab of fear from Sephiroth and had been moving to comfort the man before the words were spoken. There was nothing for Sephiroth to fear. _I won't let anyone hurt you._ The thought was absolute and tied in with Sephiroth's own desire to protect.

   "It's not that," Sephiroth said after a moment's silence, moving one hand to stroke Clouds arm that was resting on his chest. "It's just that at times, I can't help but thinking that perhaps it would be best if _something_ had happened then, something that forced him never to know me, that that would have been better than him knowing me and knowing Jenova."

  "Shhh..." Cloud repeated the soft comforting noise. "You can't change the past, you can just accept it. What is past, is past and wondering what could have been can only bring pain. I'm here now. You did nothing wrong," he murmured the last, aiming it straight for the faint self loathing he could feel deep inside his lover. Cloud fought a small smile of triumph as he felt that dark hate vanish in the light of his words.

   "It might have been just a coincidence but I don't think so. On a training mission, just before the end of the ShinRa-Wutai war, a rogue group of Wutai captured a bunch of ShinRa cadets."

   "And Cloud was one of them?"

   Sephiroth nodded, as his new Cloud drew back and resumed brushing his hair. He could still feel Sephiroth's thoughts through their link but for the moment the man was forcing himself to be calm so that he could tell Cloud of his past with his previous lover.

   "I know Wutai didn't support them. Lord Godo issued a statement to that effect as soon as he found out and I believe it. He really did not support them but others in Wutai did. Anyway to win the war was acceptable even using the lives of hostages. That's why I don't know if this was planned or if they just grabbed a bunch of cadets and hoped they had someone important. It seems haphazard though basing their plan on that hope, especially with how thoroughly the rest of their operation was planned." Sephiroth kept his voice flat as that time in his life threatened again to overtake him but he could feel Cloud's support. Feel the solid comfort of the body behind him, their hands running through his hair and feel the support of their love hovering just below the surface of his mind. 'We were linked in my world,' Cloud's thought came back to him. 'So I guess it's not impossible...' _Not impossible..._ Sephiroth whispered in his mind. _And I am thankful for that_.

   "After I found out... I don't really know what happened for a little while but I guess I ordered an expedition to Wutai and didn't take no for an answer. All I remember was landing on Wutai and then Zack was there asking me what we should do now. He knew. He knew that secret I had been trying to keep and he was blaming himself as well. He told me, later in that campaign, it was his fault that Cloud's group had been taken. He'd been watching out for Cloud when I couldn't and that they probably thought that Cloud was important to him and not to me. I loved Zack as a friend before then, I loved him even more at that moment and at that time, I think that's what enabled me to keep going.

  "The campaign was bloody, short and wasn't recorded by either side. It was an engagement that didn't exist. The rebels were supported by some rogue Wutai but for the most part they were just outcast troops." Sephiroth smiled grimly. "Against a platoon of SOLDIER's, they didn't have a chance. I didn't want them to have a chance and again, I can't remember the actual battle but I know I showed them no mercy. Those animals didn't deserve mercy," he snarled. "Lord Godo, after Wutai's surrender once said something to me, and I know he was  referring to that time. I think it was a description of me and what I had done then. 'Wutai do not fear death, they do not fear destruction but a god desiring blood, desiring vengeance, a god protecting that it holds dear, Wutai fears that. Wutai fears that blood shed.'

  "Zack would never speak to me of the battle.  He always would  make me think of what happened after. He said though, 'I was the same as you  Seph. They didn't deserve mercy, respect and so we showed them none. Do not  think of them. They do not deserve our memory.  All they deserve is a passing thought for what they have caused to be.'" Sephiroth smiled slightly, his memories becoming lighter, happier.

   Cloud nodded. Zack had been like that. Open and honest with his friends, ready to defend them and fight honourably against any foe. But against an enemy who had showed dishonour then his open combat disappeared and the dirtiest of tactic's he would not hesitate to use. But the enemy had to be the first to act dishonourably. Absently Cloud picked up another skein of tangled hair and began brushing it out. He pushed the brushed portions of hair over Sephiroth's shoulder so that they couldn't tangle again.

  "Zack found them first. They were in a village we were attacking. Zack had been looking through the houses and that's how he found them. I was more interested at that time in destroying as many of the rebels as I could but that quickly changed. There was smoke and fire but I still saw Zack clearly. His sword was stained red and he had it slung across his back. He was carrying Cloud, protecting him with his own body. As soon as I saw them, saw Cloud, the battle was over," Sephiroth smirked. "Three Ultima's, one Flare and an Ice 3. I only cast so many spells because by that time, they were scattering and I wasn't about to let any of them escape.

   "After that, I took Cloud from Zack, I trusted Zack with Cloud but I guess at that time I wasn't about to let anyone else touch him, shouted some orders for the rest of my platoon to escort the other cadets and then we left the village, heading back to the relative safety of ShinRa."

    Cloud frowned slightly at Sephiroth's words although the white haired man was smiling at the memory from the past. A soft smile of joy. But to Cloud something didn't make sense. If Sephiroth had carried him, allowing no other to touch him then how could ShinRa _not_ have known about their relationship, and Sephiroth had said it had been a secret, hadn't he? "How?" he questioned. "I thought you said it was a secret."

    "Hmm?" An emerald eye turned towards him, still glittering with joy and love no longer hidden.

    "If you carried me, with a platoon of SOLDIER's around and a whole lot of talkative cadet's, then how did we keep our relationship a secret."

    Sephiroth laughed. "That's the best bit of this! After I returned from Wutai having 'Rescued the Cadets From Wutai's Evil Clutches', ShinRa paraded Cloud around as an example. You are, after all, very photogenic and so the two of us were often seen together after that and people just assumed it was for photo opportunities. That time was when our relationship developed. Remember, up until Wutai, it had only been my attraction to Cloud, nothing in return."

    The white haired man paused, blinking reflectively. "Although you are right. ShinRa would have suspected something as the time dragged on but for your friendship with Zack. As time when on, I made sure the public shots of us together became less frequent until they stopped all together but at the same time, your friendship with Zack was developing so it wasn't unusual for you two to be together and from ShinRa's point of view Zack was safe. He was your friend, your mentor, nothing more and he was quite firmly attached to his girl friend. I don't really think ShinRa was watching for me to have a relationship then, or at least not with a lowly cadet so when they had no evidence there was nothing for them to suspect.

    "At first it was hell but at the same time it was heaven," Sephiroth back tracked along his time line a little. "I had a legitimate reason to have Cloud around me and I could get to know him, not just my obsession. It was heaven being near him, being able to see him, protect him and not have to hide but it was hell because he was _always_ the proper cadet - respectful, obedient, _emotionless_ \- exactly what a SOLDIER cadet was meant to be. He _never_ showed any interest in me beyond the norm for a soldier for their superior officer. It was _hell,_ " Sephiroth repeated quietly, leaning in to Cloud's fingers as he stroked at a newly brushed portion of hair before he pushed it over a black coated shoulder and began to work on the last and most tangled portion of hair.

    "After a week or two, I'm sure I was ropeable with frustration despite Zack's reassurances. The fact that he seemed to be getting closer and closer to you didn't help. You are a superlative actor and it was only when I caught you, with the actors mask off that everything finally came together."

    Cloud blinked as images began swirling through his mind. He could see everything, feel everything. Himself as a child, chasing a young Tifa, marching precisely in Midgar surrounded by other young blue uniformed troops, glimpses of him training, and then a cold horror gripped his heart when word of a kidnapping came to him. Next he saw Zack, emerging from smoke, escorted by several soldiers as he carried a blond haired bundle. The image was accompanied by an almost painful wave of relief, something so powerful it was painful. Another image flashed passed, his sleeping face, cradled in arms that were wrapped in black leather. One final image of Zack and himself but this one was was warm covered by a wash of emotion so deep it blurred the image. Cloud gasped once, before the memory flooded through him.

    "Zack, it's impossible!" Cloud's frustrated younger voice echoed through his mind, accompanying the image.

    "What's impossible?" the elder man looked up, slight worry in his glowing brown eyes. His hands stilled in their task of sharpening his buster sword.

    "This whole situation is impossible," Cloud continued, sitting down in a chair across from Zack. The room was simply furnished. A single bunk, a chair and a desk. A door opened on the far wall, leading to a bathroom. Zack was a SOLDIER but he was a ranking soldier so that meant there were some leanings towards luxury.

    "Spike, I don't understand."

    "This whole situation is impossible!" Cloud repeated tiredly. "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."

   Zack closed his eyes briefly and an unreadable look flickered across his face so quickly Cloud didn't notice it. "Why don't you just tell him?"

   "Tell him?" Cloud snorted disdainfully. "In case you hadn't noticed Zack, I'm just a _cadet._ I'd be kicked back to Nibelheim so fast I wouldn't have time to blink if he finds out. And that's just if I'm lucky. I couldn't... At least this way I can see him..." Cloud's voice was small.

    Zack sighed. It sounded like this conversation was one they had had before. "But what about what you want..?"

    "It doesn't matter," the younger Cloud was shaking his head. "I don't matter but I can't let him find out. That's what's impossible." Cloud paused, a single tear running slowly down his cheek. "It hurts," he whispered.

    "Oh Cloud," Zack said, standing up and moving to Cloud's side. "What about you?" He placed his hands on Cloud's shoulders, rubbing gently. "You _have_ to tell him."

    "Heh!" Cloud coughed, sarcasm dripping even from that one word. "So, I'm supposed to go up to _The General_ and tell him that I, a _mere_ cadet love him. And exactly what will that do? Nothing."

    "No..." Cloud corrected himself. "It would be best if it did nothing. He'd hate me. What need does he have for my love? None. To him, I'm nothing, I'm less than nothing." His voice was thick with self loathing and it was only after the words were spoken that he noticed how stiff Zack had become.

    "You..." The voice wasn't Zack's.

    Cloud stood and whirled, spinning to look at the door he had closed behind him.

    "...no..."

    He stepped back involuntarily, bumping into Zack.

    "General." Zack saluted, snapping to attention.

   "You..." Sephiroth repeated his voice soft and uncertain and his attention firmly fixed on the now trembling Cloud. His emerald eyes shimmered with unreadable emotion.

    Cloud was studying the ground, tears streaming down his face and neck, dampening his uniform.

    "What did you say?" Sephiroth whispered, reaching out and turning Cloud to face him and gently tipping his face up. Zack stood in the back ground watching but silent. This was something that had to happen and deep inside him he was celebrating the fact that it was. They would be good for each other, once they got past this initial awkwardness.

    "Nothing. I said nothing... Sir," Cloud said quietly, managing to avoid Sephiroth's eyes.

    "Cadet," Sephiroth snapped his voice suddenly cold, professional. Zack jumped at the tone, this wasn't the right way to approach Cloud. "I am a SOLDIER, my hearing is better than that." Sephiroth's eyes had hardened slightly, narrowing as he looked at the young man before him. "What did you say?" He removed his hands as he finally caught Cloud's blue eyes.

    "I said nothing," Cloud repeated.

    Zack almost cheered. He could read them both but there were still things he couldn't see until after the fact. This was the right way for Sephiroth, perhaps it was the only way to get Cloud to tell him. He knew Sephiroth would get the truth from Cloud now, but Cloud couldn't be weak, he had to show strength, set the boundaries of any relationship now, show Sephiroth what the white haired man already knew, that he had an inner strength that wasn't going to be crushed by anything, or anyone.

    "We do not tolerate liars in ShinRa, Cadet." Sephiroth wouldn't let Cloud look away as he slipped further into the persona of The General. "What did you say?" Sephiroth's voice held no warmth. It was the voice that brooked no insubordination, that ordered soldiers to their deaths seemingly without thought - cold, strong, invincible, emotionless, the perfect SOLDIER.

    Cloud blinked but was held by those eyes. "I said..."

    One white eyebrow was raised expectantly.

    "I said 'What need does he have for my love?'"

    "He? Who is he?" Sephiroth questioned, his voice still cool, holding none of the love Zack knew was there.

   The dread lock haired man frowned at the question before he blinked. Sephiroth, the General, invincible on the battle field was about to open himself, he had to be sure before he was consciously let down his defences even though Cloud had already breached them. _Take the step, Cloud,_ Zack thought, willing Cloud to hear the hope, the almost pleading desperate tone in Sephiroth's voice. _Take it Cloud. This is all the offer you are going to get from him._ Zack blinked again. Cloud _had_ to know that. They'd been watching each other, each unaware of the others desire, their silent observation. They _knew_ each other, knew their moods, the subtle shifts of weight that meant so much. And even though they weren't saying it, their bodies were moving, screaming for the embrace of the other and that was something they both could read in the other.

    _Take it Cloud,_ Zack thought again, watching as his young friend blinked, blue eyes wide with confusion. _What you're seeing is truth. He_ really _does want you._

    "I... he..." Cloud gulped, his voice trembling, before saying the words he truly believed would darn him. "He is The General sir," Cloud snapped, his voice now emotionless, and his body silent as he looked directly into the emerald orbs that had pinned him.

   Sephiroth closed his eyes slowly, freeing Cloud from his gaze but the blond stood, eyes fixed ahead of him, locked in attention. "How little you know," he said, opening now hooded eyes. "How little you know," he repeated, voice silk smooth as he reached out to trace one long elegant finger over Cloud's jaw line.

    Cloud stood, never moving at the General's touch and when he made no reaction Sephiroth pulled back slightly. Zack almost grinned. _He cracked you Sephiroth, now it's time for you to break him._ The tall man examined Cloud closely, looking for any reaction. "Did you mean it?" He asked the question quietly as Cloud continued to stand at attention.

    The blue eyed boy remained silent.

    "Did you mean it?" Sephiroth allowed the full menace of The General to fill his tone.

   Cloud looked at the floor, squeezing his eyes shut against the tears that threatened to escape again, against the blinding pain that would follow when he destroyed his hope, his terror drowning the implications that were inherent in Sephiroth's previous words. "Yes."

    Only a SOLDIER's mako enhanced hearing could hear that utterance.

    Sephiroth smiled, the expression flashing across his face so fast that even Zack wasn't sure it was there and Cloud, who could have read the expression in Sephiroth's body, had his attention firmly fixed on the ground. "Then perhaps you should know how the General feels." Sephiroth moved with lightning quickness, raising Cloud's face to his own and only stopping when their lips were barely touching.

    Cloud eeped, eyes wide with surprise.

    "You should know," Sephiroth whispered before he took Cloud's lips in a gentle kiss.

   Zack grinned, slinking towards the door. These might be his quarters but he had the distinct impression that he wouldn't be welcome soon. Just before he reached the door, he looked back and was surprised at the expression he could see in two pairs of eyes. It was almost the same. Sephiroth and Cloud had pulled back from their kiss and were now looking at each other with the same intense gaze, their bodies whispering endearments to each other but their faces showing almost exact same expressions of hope, of acceptance. But it was the expression in their eyes that struck Zack the most, an expression he could only see clearly now that it was gone. The ever present pain, the faint expression of loneliness was absent, drowned in an almost indecent ecstasy.

    "Zack."

    The man froze, half way out the door.

    "See that we're not disturbed."

    "Yes sir!" He snapped, grinning as he closed the door quietly behind him. It was about time the two of them got serious. Now everything was going to be well.

   Cloud gasped, pulling himself back to the present as he felt Sephiroth's hair between his fingers again. "That's how it was?" He asked, taking the memory into himself, making them his own. The memory just passed that was him now, that was his past, this world was his but what of Nibelheim?

    He felt Sephiroth nod, silken strands of hair pulled loose from his grip. Sephiroth turned to look at Cloud. "That's how it was and this is how it is." He leant forward, pressing his lips against Cloud's, feeling a smile there.

    Cloud pulled back slightly, teasingly, although his eyes glowed happily. He could feel a faint regret at what he was about to say. "You haven't finished yet." He leant forward, to kiss Sephiroth. "Although I think a pause is in order," he whispered before allowing their lips to join once again, as he slipped warm thoughts of love into Sephiroth's mind feeling them reciprocated.

   ::I love you Sephiroth. Always...:: Cloud paused at the sadness he could sense in Sephiroth's memories. The guilt, the pain and anguish that was to come in his story. Nibelheim. ::No matter what happened. I love you.::

To Be Continued...

 


	16. Wutai

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 15 - Wutai

    ::I love you,:: Cloud whispered again before he pulled back slightly. The warmth of Sephiroth in his arms, the scent of the man’s hair and the pleasure of their cuddling was comforting but it was time to continue. Sephiroth had been diverted from his pain but the true pain of Nibelheim could not be held off. It had to be faced now, before they could continue, before they could truly begin anything.

    Sephiroth sighed. ::I know... I know...:: "It's time to continue," he said aloud, a note of sadness in his voice. He drew back as well, closing his eyes as he turned around and then leant back, resting against Cloud's warmth. "I know what happened to you. Your world seems simpler somehow."

    "It was anything but simple," Cloud said. "Jenova, ShinRa, Rufus, Hojo, Aeris, the Planet, the Weapons, Tifa, Avalanche, the Turks... They all had their own plans. The Chocobo's may have had a master plan as well, I don't know but it really was anything but simple."

    Sephiroth smiled slightly. "I'm sure it wasn't but what I meant was while you were bound by your desires, you weren't further bound by your memories. At least, you had no memories of what _had_ been."

    Cloud nodded slightly, wrapping his arms around Sephiroth and lowering his face to the crest of the white haired man’s head and inhaled deeply the plain but unmistakable scent of Sephiroth's hair. It was a fruity scent but in no way feminine. It was beautiful.

    "After what happened in Zack's room, I'm surprised ShinRa couldn't read everything in me but they didn't and they didn't see anything in Cloud either. It was, that time... wonderful. The war with Wutai was still active but at that time there was a lull and ShinRa didn't have me running all over the continent quelling rebellions for once so I could spend most of my time with Cloud. Cloud still had his training as a SOLDIER pre-lim but that wasn't really as important to him as it had once been."

    It was Cloud's turn to smile. "If the choice between the SOLDIER and becoming a SOLDIER was mine, I know which _I'd_ pick."

    "Cloud continued training though, even though he wasn't being officially trained. It was better that way. The idiot trainers at ShinRa didn't know how to train him. They taught brute force and your physic is one that requires skill. They just didn't know how to teach someone with a small build. Zack and I did though, so even though Cloud wasn't attending his 'lessons' he was still improving to the point where, when he went to his lessons he mostly ended up teaching his instructors," Sephiroth sniggered but his voice was sad when he continued.

    "That's what caused the problem. Not with ShinRa - what did ShinRa care about one Cadet? - but with the other Cadet's and with those idiot teachers. Cloud cried in Zack's room when we got together but those tears I didn't mind. I only ever saw him cry one other time and those tears, I will never forget, nor forgive."

    Cloud stroked a comforting hand down the length of Sephiroth's hair but said nothing as he waited for the white haired man to continue in his own time. And they had all the time in the word now.

    "It was _my_ fault. If I hadn't of... If I didn't..."

    Inwardly Cloud sighed. There was so _much_ pain, Sephiroth had hidden if for so long and now he _had_ to let go of it if they were to continue. These 'what if's...' would solve nothing and were only bringing him more pain. "I've already told you about the past," Cloud said softly. "You can't change the past, you can just accept it. What is past, is past and wondering what could have been can only bring pain. I'm here now and I _know_ , the other me never blamed you. _Never._ There was no fault. There is no blame. You did _nothing_ wrong, you were there for him as you will be there for me. Tell me what happened, and let go of your pain and then we can begin." Cloud continued to stroke Sephiroth's hair as he spoke but his other arm tightened around the stiff body that was laying against his own.

    "Cloud..." Sephiroth choked. "It hurts..."

    "I know. It always hurts and it will always hurt but I am here now and while the pain will never go, I will bear it with you." Cloud didn't know where the words were coming from but they seemed to be the right things to say to Sephiroth so he didn't question them.

    ::And exactly where do you think you're getting a lifetime of experience of dealing with him from, hmm?::

    ::You!:: Cloud cried out silently. ::I thought you had left.::

    ::I have but since Sephiroth has a lifetime of dealing with you, it really wouldn't be fair for you to enter a relationship with no knowledge of him so I left you a little bit. But before that knowledge could come forth you had to accept me as yourself. Anyway...:: Cloud's internal voice continued with a definite grin in his tone. ::This should be the last time your memory talks to you. You'll find some of the information I've given you way more interesting that mere memories. Hehehehe! Bye-bye!::

    ::More... interesting...?::

    ::Use your imagination, Idiot!:: A selection of images assaulted Cloud's mind, almost causing him to choke as he struggled to control his bodies reaction.

    :: _Now is not the time_!!:: He screamed, mentalling indicating towards the dejected Sephiroth.

    ::I know, but after he tells you his story, he's going to need some serious comforting and a very solid reminder that you are here and that you aren't planning on leaving. It's your choice of course, I can only suggest. This time though, it's really Good-bye.:: Cloud caught the impression of a waving hand before the other him faded.

    "It was my fault, Cloud," Sephiroth's words brought Cloud's attention back to the present. "What happened, happened because I was there. It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't of interfered that day." Sephiroth blinked, sighing. "Zack and I had gone to watch the cadet's training. It was expected that we see what the potential SOLDIER's were like but we had deliberately picked Cloud's group. I'd use any excuse to see Cloud, without ShinRa suspecting.

    "Training!" the white haired man snorted. "The training showed us absolutely nothing, except that the training Zack and I were giving Cloud was far superior to anything ShinRa's instructors could dish out. Cloud was holding back, I know but at the same time he didn't want to disappoint me so he didn't hold back as much as he previously had. He roundly and easily defeated his fellow Cadet's and then, when the instructors tried to make an example of him, he defeated them. I was so proud. This was _my_ Cloud. I remained proud and happy until I saw one of the instructors moving to punish Cloud.

    "He'd seen it too, I know it and there was a look in his eyes that said he expected it. That angered me and angry I acted. You'd be amazed at how eloquent seven feet of steel can be. I didn't have to say a word. But what I didn't say was enough. They knew... They all knew, I was protecting Cloud. And that was enough," Sephiroth sighed the last.

    "After we left, they attacked him. Not physically because I'd know about that but what they said, what they implied was enough. Cloud didn't come to my room until late that night. He was usually waiting for me. I was _so_ worried. I was about to get the entire garrison to search for him, ShinRa finding out be damned, when he came. I knew that something was wrong immediately. Neither of us could hide from each other but he was stubborn. He wouldn't tell me, even when I made it an order. So I ignored it and went about the evening as if nothing was wrong."

    Cloud shivered. Sephiroth knew him too well. That would be the way to get him to talk, especially if Sephiroth was being solicitous and he had the feeling that Sephiroth would have been that in spades.

    "It didn't take that long but he still didn't tell me much, he just began crying. It nearly killed me and I don't say that to be dramatic. I knew then that I never wanted to have him cry because I was the cause. When I did find out what had happened I ordered those idiots thrown out of ShinRa. I was going to order them into combat at Wutai or have them executed but Cloud refused to have them killed no matter how much I wanted to do it personally and give their heads to Cloud as a gift. But I guess in the long run, banishing them from ShinRa was a better alternative. For people trained to be professional soldiers, there is not a lot of work outside of ShinRa and for the cadet's it meant returning to their homes in shame.

    "After that everything seemed fine and it was after that incident that we decided it would be best if Cloud left the SOLDIER pre-lims..."

    "We..?"

    "Cloud and I talked about it before the decision was made. I didn't just order him around you know. It wasn't like he'd listen to me anyway if I tried that."

    "I'm glad to see I maintained some sense."

    "I wouldn't say that," Sephiroth tilted his head as he looked at Cloud with soft smile. "But you maintained your stubbornness, you wouldn't move out of the line of becoming a SOLDIER but there was always more than one way."

    "More than one way..?" Cloud frowned. "I don't understand. There was only the Pre-lims, wasn't there?"

    "Not here there wasn't. It might have been on your world but here there was another way for those Cadet's who were considered... different, special. There were the Pre-lims but that was mostly just for everyone and most of them failed but if someone was considered deserving or gifted then they could be put through a set of tests and then sponsored into the SOLDIERs. The tests were designed to see that the individual was capable of becoming a SOLDIER, you know, mako infusions, psyche evaluations and the like. After all, being sponsored meant you were definitely going to be a SOLDIER so you _had_ to be physically capable. Sponsored is perhaps the wrong word, it was more of an apprenticeship..." Sephiroth trailed off looking at Cloud. "Cloud..." he breathed. "What's wrong?"

    The blond took a deep breath, forcing back his tears and his pain that had reappeared at Sephiroth's words. "I didn't..." he gulped. "I didn't fail at becoming a SOLDIER?" he questioned quietly as a single tear did escape. He'd never forgotten how much he wanted to get into the SOLDIER's, he'd just learnt how to and had to deal with that pain a long time ago. After all, through Hojo's intervention, he was a SOLDIER of a sort. It was just that his beloved's words were bringing back that pain, pulling it back into sharp focus. He closed his eyes against the pain.

    "Cloud..." Sephiroth whispered, leaning forward to wipe away the tear. "I don't know what exactly happened in your world, but here you didn't fail, in fact, you may not wish to hear this now but your test results were phenomenal. And if they were that here, I'm sure they were in your world and that it was something else that interfered." Emerald eyes closed, sending Cloud a wave of reassurance through their bond. ::Cloud, that pain... Let it go... It's over.::

    ::I know...:: Cloud mentally sniffed. ::But I... I _wanted_ it so much. It hurt.:: He opened his glowing sapphire eyes again, proof that he _was_ a SOLDIER, looking at Sephiroth, whose face was composed in peace as he comforted his love. ::I wanted it so much. It was the only way I had to be with you.::

    Sephiroth's eyes snapped open in surprise and locked with blue for an instant before he surged forward, enclosing Cloud in his arms, resting his cheek on blond spikes. ::You're with me now and I won't let go.:: "You're _mine,_ " he snarled the word, tightening his grip as Cloud returned his embrace. "It doesn't matter what world you're in, you belong to me and I'm not letting go."

    Cloud muzzled into Sephiroth's chest letting his body relax as he repeated the word, 'mine.' He given himself to Sephiroth a long time ago but this was the first time he had been claimed and something in him eased. Some worry, an ache, the knowledge that he was accepted drowned the worry that he wasn't good enough, that despite the fact that he had given himself, he might be rejected. _'...belong to me...'_ he repeated in his mind. Yes, he belonged to Sephiroth and that knowledge was comforting because he knew he'd never be alone again.

    "Mine," Sephiroth growled the word once again. "Always mine. Always, no matter what tries to take you away." His emerald eyes burned fiercely and he trembled slightly at the force of his words but he could feel Cloud's acceptance and feel the sadness in Cloud diminishing but he didn't want to let go. "Always..." he said again before taking a deep breath to continue his story. He, like Cloud, knew that it had to be told now, before anything else could interfere. This Cloud had to know the truth about his previous love.

    "Zack was your sponsor. Despite all the evidence they had been presented with ShinRa still didn't know the truth then and it made sense for Zack to have an apprentice. It would have been suspicious for me to have an apprentice. After all to ShinRa I was the perfect SOLDIER, I looked down on the rest of humanity, I couldn't suddenly take one as a student. Getting sponsored into the SOLDIER's got you out of the line of fire, as it were, of the other Pre-lims but... I don't know what really happened. I guess it was a combination of things although the blood tests ShinRa had on you were probably the deciding factor.

    "ShinRa needed someone to bond with Jenova and because they couldn't find a woman who was capable I guess they ran a search through _all_ their data bases and of course, the only candidate they found who was suitable was Cloud." The last was said in a tone of mockery but it was directed inwards. Sephiroth breathed deeply, sighing as he continued. "There was nothing I could say about it, nothing I could do. I was Jenova's Child, ShinRa's perfect General and the only reaction I was allowed to have was to be pleased that they were resurrecting my _mother_.

    "I tried to talk Cloud out of it. I tried everything I could think of since ShinRa couldn't do it if Cloud wasn't willing. I tried to reason with him, I tried getting Zack to talk you out of it. I even tried black mail but nothing worked. I guess all the weeks I spent convincing you that I really did love you worked against me there and while I can't prove it I'm fairly sure that ShinRa was holding _something_ over Cloud. So in the end, I stood there, with the Apocalypse Sword and watched as you merged with Jenova. I watched as my entire world was destroyed and the only reason you had given me was that you were doing it for me.

    "I know how much you wanted to be a SOLDIER but I didn't need that. If I had gotten my way I would have taken you out of the Pre-lims, out of sponsoring, out of ShinRa altogether. Either that or I'd have had you declared some special non-combat rank. I don't know. I didn't need you to be a SOLDIER, I didn't need you to be anything, I only needed you to be you, to be there for me. That's all. Merging with Jenova was not something either of us wanted but in the end that's what happened.

    "After you had merged with Jenova there were weeks of tests. I only saw you for a few minutes in that entire time and never in private. I was probably ripping the place apart in frustration and Zack couldn't tell me anything either. ShinRa wasn't allowing anyone near their new General.

    "The first time I got to see you, really see _you,_ was when they ordered an end to the Wutai War. It had been dragging on and I guess they wanted it finished. Cloud had... changed. He wasn't the same. Even Zack noticed that but ShinRa was happy with the result. I remember the final battle...

    "Fifth Troop, don't let them escape into the tower, or we'll have to fight our way up."

    "We're on it, General Strife."

    " _Die Abomination_!"

    "Too slow, Wutai," the blond General spat the word as he danced aside swinging the Masamune in flat arc at the Wutai soldier ending in a solid thunk. Glowing blue eyes narrowed as Cloud turned with a sneer to face the rest of the Wutain troop. He raised his left hand, and gestured. "Come," he invited with a smile.

    "Die, ShinRa."

    Cloud continued to smile as the entire troop charged at him. This was the end game and the streets of Wutai were painted with blood. This troop would just add to the colour.

    Duck low and turn and the Masamune spills more blood upon the stone. Jump high and lash out, kicking hard at two soldiers who fall and entangle others. "Weak. You are too weak." He landed and drove forward, slashing upwards. He ignored the screams of pain his attack was causing, watching dispassionately as blood splattered upwards on the walls. The sight aroused something in him, something that laughed at the blood, revealed in it. But the same thing that was laughing at the blood was disappointed at the ease with which it was spilt. It was too easy, there was no challenge and while victory would always be assured there should be some small challenge in destruction.

    He paused, falling into a formal posture facing the troops commander as the last of them fell around him. "Weak. They were all too weak. Can you provide a challenge?"

    "Commander!"

    "No!" Cloud snapped, turning slightly and releasing a Fire 3 spell at the Wutain officer's reinforcements. "No, no interference."

    "I wouldn't have it any other way," the officer replied, matching Cloud's stance with his own.

    "Good," Cloud purred the word before they joined in combat.

    Swords, both a similar long katana design, locked for an instant before they leapt back, each landing carefully on the slippery cobbles. They circled looking for an opening and assessing the other. Blue eyes snapped happily, meeting Wutain brown. "You can't win against me, you know. I am eternal."

    "I've heard of you abominations, you SOLDIER's. The Planet cries out against you. Mako is not meant for that."

    "I'm not a SOLDIER. I am something more and as for the Planet... It belongs to me already. The Cetra lost _that_ war a long time ago. The Planet is mine to devour as I please."

    "Not if you're dead ShinRa, and I will pay with my blood if that's what it takes to kill you." The Wutain moved deliberately, turning to face Cloud side on with his sword held horizontal and pointed directly at his blue uniformed opponent.

    Cloud blinked at the move. It wasn't a standard Wutain manoeuvrer but this human thought that it would be effective. It was bound to be interesting at the least. Humans could barely fight but occasionally they could provide some entertainment.

    "This is my families move, ShinRa. It will kill you, even if it costs me my life."

    "It will, Wutai, it will," Cloud smirked falling into a general ready position. "Come," he invited again, something darker looking out from his eyes.

    The officer shifted position slightly, fixing his footing and breathing for a moment until he was ready. One blink and he charged, feet hammering the slippery ground but his overall body position remained the same, charging Cloud side on, his sword horizontal. At the last instant he thrust his sword forward, using one hand to give him a formidable reach.

    Blue eyes narrowed, in the sudden silence of the charge considering before an infinitesimal shrug and he shifted. It was time to educate this human and the watchers he could feel. It would hurt but pain was nothing but the proof of life. With a calm smile Cloud spread his legs and raised his arms, the Masamune held to the side as he waited in an open position for the attack to connect.

    "What..?" The strangled question came from several places but by the time it was uttered it was already too late, the Wutain officers attack had connected with ShinRa's General's body.

    "Urg..." Cloud cried out, taking a step backwards but remaining standing.

    "What is the meaning of this?" The officer questioned harshly, releasing his hand from his sword hilt, leaving the blade impaling the General. He watched his opponent in disbelief, not even worried as his unarmed state as more ShinRa troops lead by one of the other Generals poured around them.

    "This..." Cloud coughed blood and spat it on to the ground, raising one hand to wipe his mouth but ineffectually smearing the redness over his chin. "This is your education."

    "Cloud!"

    "Stay back Sephiroth. This is nothing." As Cloud spoke more blood trickled from his mouth but his voice displayed no pain. The blond glanced at the black clothed man before fixing his gaze on the officer who had wounded him. "This is nothing. I am eternal." He moved his left hand to the blade that was impaling him and gripped the slippery surface. Dispassionately he began to pull it from his body, adjusting his grip several times before the bloody steel was completely free of him.

    "This is nothing," he repeated, gesturing to where the wound should have been.

    His uniform was ripped and bloody and his skin was coated in his sticky life force but what the troops, Sephiroth and the Wutain officer could see was that the wound itself was gone as if it had never been. Over the course of seconds it had healed.

    "That's not possible..." Sephiroth breathed. "Not even SOLDIER's heal _that_ fast."

    Glowing blue eyes glanced once more at Sephiroth. "Like you Sephiroth," Cloud paused, silently mouthing several words before he continued. "I am not a SOLDIER. I am more than that." He turned back to the Wutain. "Do you see? You have no hope."

    With a causal move he tossed the bloody blade back to the officer, moving his own body into an attack position. "Now, prepare yourself. It's over."

    The Wutain Officer held his sword vertical gripping it with both hands almost in a position of prayer before he leapt forward a battle cry loosened from his lips as he meet Cloud's attack.

    There was the clang of steel against steel and a crunch like boots on broken glass and for a moment it looked like they were equal but then the Masamune emerged from the back of the officer and his body fell forward, collapsing around the blade that impaled him.

    "It's over," Cloud repeated.

    "It's over," the officer agreed as he spewed blood everywhere. "But in a way you can't see. You're dead, Jenova. Where I have failed, your host will not." The officer raised his head and looked briefly into Cloud's blue eyes before his gaze shifted and brown eyes held green. "You cannot... fail," he gasped as Cloud twisted the Masamune's length within his body. "You cannot fail in this, Sephiroth," the name was spat with a hatred his race felt. "The one you protected is dead." As the final word left his lips he fell, light vanishing suddenly from his eyes.

    Cloud stepped back, angling the Masamune down, watching as the body slid off the blade to lie in the blood that surrounded them. "It's over Wutai." He turned to look at the Pagoda and held up the bloody Masamune. "This is ShinRa's victory." Around him ShinRa troops cheered as Wutai fell but one general was silent, his gaze sorrowful as he examined the body of his beloved, searching for any sign of life.

    Sephiroth coughed. "That's how the Wutai war ended. Jenova/Cloud was brutal and they didn't have a chance. I didn't understand what that officer meant then but I quickly discovered it. And now, in memory I know that's when Cloud died. I _should_ have struck then and ended his pain because he told me, in words he spoke but could not say a loud, he told me then who he was, what he had become. 'Like you Sephiroth, _my Son_ , I am not a SOLDIER.' He said that and I didn't even notice it."

    "You could not know it then, Sephiroth. And even if you did, I'm sure ShinRa wouldn't have let you get close enough to do anything about it," Cloud spoke quietly, closing his eyes as he reluctantly accepted the memories. They were painful but if he was to live his life here then they had to come his. He tightened his embrace of Sephiroth and once again checked that he was sending an almost continual barrage of love and support at the white haired man through their link. It was all he could do. "ShinRa, Jenova, Hojo. They are the ones to blame. You did nothing wrong. Everything that happened can be attributed to them. It was their fault."

    He spoke the words without knowing the full truth but he knew they couldn't be wrong. He and Sephiroth had played their parts, yes, but they were unwilling participants in Jenova's and ShinRa's play because while Sephiroth had said that he had willingly merged with Jenova, Cloud knew, his memories were telling him, that Sephiroth had been correct. ShinRa had been holding something over his head and it wasn't Sephiroth. He had been willing but at the same time coerced and the role he had played was Jenova's, not his, so the blame lay with her.

    Sephiroth nodded shallowly before continuing in a broken voice. "And then... And then there was Nibelheim..."

    And then there was Nibelheim. Cloud nodded understanding now what ShinRa had held over him. Nibelheim. His town. His mother. His friends. His life.

    "It all ended there, in Nibelheim..."

To Be Continued...

 


	17. Jenova

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 16 - Jenova

    "And then... And then there was Nibelheim..." Sephiroth paused, considering his words and the best way to explain everything that had happened. "If Wutai was a test of Jenova's abilities, it was one she passed with flying colours but that then makes Nibelheim a test of her loyalty. It was a test though, that I can only take faint comfort in knowing she failed abysmally.

    "In hindsight, I have to say that ShinRa _must_ have suspected something. There is no way they would send all three ranking SOLDIER's to what was in effect a minor town, no matter what the problem with the reactor was. Nibelheim was designed to test us all - Jenova and her control over her host, Cloud and whatever strength he might still have, Zack and his loyalties and me and my desires.

    "I guess they sent us there because of something that happened in Wutai. The night after Wutai fell, I approached Cloud, not as a General to a General, not as Son to Mother but also not as a Lover to a Lover but more as a friend. I was trying to feel him out, trying to determine what merging with Jenova had done and this was the first time I had Cloud to myself and in private since that event. _Nothing_ happened, I think Jenova and Cloud were still merging then and so the combined entity that they were was confused by me. He just brushed me off. He didn't say anything, he was just cold and remote. I didn't think anybody noticed anything, there was nothing to see unless you were watching but that approach must have warned ShinRa in some way because they sent us to Nibelheim before we even got back from Wutai.

    "It didn't take us long to get to Nibelheim," Sephiroth spoke without betraying emotion. He could feel Cloud's arms around him, hear a soft thump-thump and a gentle hiss of breath, smell the rough odour that was his beloved and that was giving him the strength he needed. And in his mind there was only a warm pillar of support, offering him love but it was not blind. This Cloud saw and accepted his mistakes as he was accepting his predecessors, this Cloud would truly stand with him as an equal.

    "Go on," Cloud murmured, shifting his arms slightly so that Sephiroth was more comfortably settled. He would hold Sephiroth forever, if that's what it took but small shifts of weight would ensure both their comfort. "I know this is difficult. It's difficult for me too, to hear what I have done but when this is over, the world begins."

    The white haired man nodded looking out into the night. "The world begins in the place where the world ended. We got to the town by mid-morning and Cloud... No, I shouldn't be saying that... And Jenova, by then, I'm sure it was only Jenova, wanted to push on. She wanted to go straight to the reactor and not wait until we had secured a guide. That was the one thing with merging, Jenova had access to Cloud's memories and Cloud had access to her's - one being but two sets of memories and definitely two opposing sets of goals. Their physical bodies had merged but the mergence of the mind was only partial, each wanted to be their own being. In the end, that's what saved us, but that is not the question now.

    "Jenova wanted to press on but the towns people wouldn't let her. _They_ were too busy greeting Cloud. It was the only time I saw Jenova uncomfortable. Although I know Cloud didn't leave Nibelheim on good terms from the way the towns folk were acting, you'd have thought he had been the local hero, not the local outcast. Jenova interacted with them but only at a basic level. She fed them some line about SOLDIER training having messed with her memories but she was good to your mother. I don't think the poor woman ever suspected that her son was dead." Sephiroth paused and blinked. "No..." he said slowly. "That's not quite true. I can't be sure but I think at that time Cloud and Jenova were co-existing, not peacefully but Cloud was still within Jenova in a dominant fashion. It's just that he could only be in control when there was a strong reason for him. For the town's people he didn't care about Jenova could control him but then for his mother he found the strength to be in control."

    "You're going to object that he should have found the strength to be in control when he was about me, aren't you?" Sephiroth questioned, looking at Cloud.

    Cloud nodded, shifting his thoughts around a little so that he wouldn't be quite so easy to read through their link. There were some things in his mind that he didn't want to share quite yet, like his source of information.

    "Whether Cloud could control or not was also dependent on Jenova. While it was never in her nature to be submissive in any way, there was some degree of caring. She didn't care if she wasn't in control around Cloud's mother. It probably was a relief to her that he took control but around me, and around ShinRa, she had reason to care and so wouldn't have given Cloud the slightest opening. You can always fight but unless there is an opening attack is little more than suicide and Cloud knew that. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't gain control around me. There was no opportunity. I actually don't think that there ever was any opening, not even with what was to come. I think, Cloud just _made_ an opening but I'll get to that..." The white haired man settled himself back down in Cloud's arms, listening for an instant to the constant murmur of loving thoughts that the blond was filling his mind with before he continued.

    "We set off for the reactor in the morning with Tifa as our guide. As I said Jenova didn't want a guide, she already knew where she was going from Cloud's memories but there was an incident, just before we left that morning, and this is where hostility between Jenova and Tifa begins. Jenova had been trying to crept out early but Tifa was waiting for us and she made the remark that her abilities had always been better than Cloud's. I saw something then, in Jenova's eyes, something I never would have seen in Cloud's and I know it's from that point that Jenova hated Tifa.

    "I'm only mentioning that because you _saw_ Tifa's hatred for you. She really hates Jenova and at least for a while, I guess that hatred will have been transferred to you."

    "I hope it's only temporary but I do know Tifa, she isn't likely to forget," Cloud interrupted Sephiroth's tale.

    "It will be sad if she doesn't see the truth but this is what will be," Sephiroth said the words forcefully. "It doesn't matter what she wants, I won't ever leave you."

    "I know," Cloud murmured. "I hope she will listen to the truth."

    Sephiroth closed his eyes for an instant. They both knew how stubborn Tifa could be but at the moment there was nothing they could do except hope that she would eventually listen to reason, or at least accept the path they had chosen. She had been a friend to them both but she would not stand between them.

    "The trip to the reactor was uneventful. When we got there, the three of us, you, me and Zack, left Tifa under guard outside the reactor and went in. I presume your reactor had 'monsters' inside it?" Sephiroth twisted around slightly to look at Cloud with one emerald eye.

    Cloud nodded but didn't say anything. How could he forget those monsters? The terror of becoming one was still fresh in his mind, as if it were yesterday and not years ago that Hojo had experimented upon him.

    "You've told me," Sephiroth continued, looking back out into the night, "that in your reactor it was Jenova who was sealed inside. That was impossible here but here there was something else sealed inside, something that simplified the mako extraction process. Ifulra, Aeris' mother and the last full blooded Cetera. Her remains were sealed inside.

    "Jenova seemed... _pleased_ somehow, almost more superior than her usual tone but I didn't get a chance to dwell on that then. We checked the reactor and after making a few minor adjustments, there was nothing majorly wrong with it that we could see, we left it and went back to Nibelheim. The Mount Nibel reactor was famous for its efficiency and with a Cetera inside, even a dead one it was obvious why it was so efficient and we didn't want to ruin that efficiency.

    "Everything began to collapse after we got back to the Mansion. We were finally alone. It had taken weeks, months for me to get Cloud alone after the experiment and at the Mansion, when I got that with relative security, I moved."

    Sephiroth trembled at the memory. "I'll admit, I probably was too forceful but I had to know what had happened, why Cloud had given me no sign that he remembered me..."

    Black gloved hands landed on blue uniformed shoulders forcing the blond man to look into the green eyes that glared at him. "Cloud..." the word was snarled, anger and longing mixing together. "What did they do? Tell me something!"

    Blue eyes blinked, not surprised but not understanding the demands being made. "General Sephiroth, I don't understand you and this conduct is very unprofessional."

    "Cloud..." Sephiroth shook the form beneath him. "Don't..." he warned in a voice that lacked patience. "It has been _months_ and now that I finally have you alone, away from ShinRa you are going to tell me exactly what happened. You owe it to me."

    "Exactly what happened _when,_ General?" Cloud's voice was cold and scathing as he looked at the white haired man with a questioning expression that clearly stated he thought Sephiroth was way out of line.

    "Don't..." The warning was less forceful this time. "Don't do this to me Cloud," Sephiroth's voice betrayed his tiredness but he wasn't begging yet. "The night before it happened, all you said to me was that you were doing it for me. I _want_ an explanation. What happened then? Why haven't you given me any sign?"

    "General," Cloud began again, his tone still coldly professional but showing no understanding, "I do not know what you mean." He raised his arms, hitting Sephiroth's forearms with his own to free his shoulders. Sephiroth slumped backwards into a chair.

    "Don't you remember me, Cloud?" There was no hiding the broken catch in his voice. "After everything that happened, don't you remember me?"

    "I remember you," Cloud's voice was soft and bore a note of uncertainty, as if he was confused about what was happening or trying not to speak the words, to control himself.

    "Then doesn't that mean anything to you?" Anger flared making his eyes blaze with emerald fire.

    "I remember you, my son." Blond spikes tilted as Cloud turned his face to look directly at Sephiroth.

    "Son?"

    "You are my son." Glowing blue eyes blinked and narrowed, as Cloud's face lost all traces of innocence, his expression becoming one of dark cunning and his voice resonated with surety. "You are the Chosen One, my Son, who will rise above humanity. The One-Winged Angel..."

    "...no... Cloud..."

    "This body belonged to Cloud but _I_ am Jenova, my son, your _mother_. And you were placed here to be my tool and you will obey me, that is your only purpose, my dear son."

    "Obey you..?" Sephiroth questioned, eyes wild at the sudden change within Cloud. "Obey a mother I do now know, a mother who took everything from me. Cloud, wake up."

    "He can't hear you. He was within me but he kept interfering so I destroyed him. I only needed a body, not another mind."

    "You... you destroyed him?"

    Jenova laughed. "My poor son, your lover is dead and I will not let him return," her voice was firm but her posture was soft, inviting as she rose and turned to stand before Sephiroth. She held out her arms, the gesture an invitation for him to accept her embrace. "But this is his body, his voice, his touch and smell and I can be just as sweet, my son. Obey me, serve me and I will be anything you want."

    Sephiroth choked. "You'll what?"

    "My beautiful son," she extended her hand and stroked a line along Sephiroth's jaw. "I am so much more than your mother. I am the Destroyer of Worlds, the Star Eater but I am the Creator, the Mother of All Things. Serve me, obey me and you will be the ruler of all things."

    "Love you?" Sephiroth spat. "That's what you are asking. Serve you, obey you, fear you... Love you. That's what you want, isn't it?" His eyes blazed with emerald and despite the fact he was facing Cloud, his lover, the attitude and demeanour was so obviously Jenova that he could forget that.

    "Is there anything wrong with a son loving his mother?"

    "Where is Cloud?" The question was snarled as the white haired man rose to face the body of his lover.

    "He's dead. Only his semblance remains in me."

    "I don't believe that. Cloud is not that weak."

    "He was only human. You and I both know how weak they are. They serve as nothing more than a momentary distraction but I will be with you for eternity."

    "NO!" Sephiroth screamed the word, once again taking a hold of Cloud's shoulders and shaking hard. "Wake up Cloud. You did not do this to be controlled by Jenova, I know it. You did not tell me why but I know it was not for this. Come back to me Cloud, come back now!"

    Jenova hissed, pulling herself free of Sephiroth's grip. "I will forgive this _once,_ my son. You have formed an attachment to your human plaything and you will need time to release it. I should have expected this, you are still young. You were created to serve me and you will. You can never escape me for you are my son and you always will be." Narrowed blue eyes bored for an instant into green. "Just this _once._ " She snapped as she turned to leave Sephiroth alone.

    The door slammed loudly closed and Sephiroth fell to the ground. "...Cloud... ...come back..." he whispered but he didn't recognise his own voice.

    How long he was slumped there he didn't know. Seconds, minutes, hours. He didn't know. His reverie was interrupted by one of the troops who had accompanied them pounding on his door. "General! General Sephiroth, sir!"

    Tiredly he rose to his feet, composing himself before he moved to the door. "What is it?"

    "Sir, please come quickly. There is something wrong with General Strife. He won't talk to General Zack and keeps saying something about using the reactor. Something is wrong. Please hurry!"

    "Cloud..!" Sephiroth was half-way down the hall before the soldier had finished speaking.

    "Cloud!" Sephiroth skidded to a halt just inside the basement room.

    "Wait," the voice was Zack's and was accompanied by a hand coming down firmly on his shoulder. "That's not Cloud," he added, pointing towards the person that was in the inner rooms.

    The person there was glowing, not a lot but in the dark it was definitely noticeable. But what Sephiroth also saw was the blue glow that came from their face and the Masamune strapped across the figures back. He was about to argue when Cloud turned to face them.

    "For once, that SOLDIER is correct. I am not the weakling Cloud." Jenova turned to face them, looking up from the book in her hands at Sephiroth. "Are you ready to follow me, my son?"

    "Cloud."

    "I told you before. I am not Cloud."

    "Sephiroth, what the hell happened?"

    "I don't know Zack."

    "What happened was exactly what ShinRa wanted - the revival of Jenova. The human was important for nothing but their body. Now, if you'll excuse me," Jenova let the book fall and strode past them, emitting an aura of power that was no less than theirs despite her diminutive size. "I have many things to do today."

    "Wait, I'm not letting you go anywhere." The thought and words were mutual between the dark and light haired generals as they emerged into the night.

    "I don't think you have time to be concerned with me," Jenova said as she turned towards Mount Nibel, gesturing towards the streets of Nibelheim.

    "What?"

    Sephiroth and Zack both turned. The town should have been enveloped in the pitch darkness of pre-dawn, they should have seen nothing more than a town sleeping, waiting for the dawn when it would awaken for its days activities. But Nibelheim itself was brighter than dawn. Fire raged in every building, bursting through the windows and causing the whole sky to light up with an orange glow. The air reeked of smoke and over the roar of the flames faint screams could be heard.

    "What have you done?" The question was a snarl so intense it almost wasn't language.

    "Done?" Jenova's voice was innocent. "I've done nothing. Look closer, my son."

    They looked back and there in the shadows of the flames converging on the mansion were navy blue uniformed troops. ShinRa Special Forces.

    "See? I did nothing. ShinRa decided that the town Cloud came from could be a problem in the future so they have acted to destroy it."

    "What did you _tell_ them?"

    "Oh, not that much," Jenova seemed happy about something as she moved into the darkness, heading towards the Mount Nibel track. "I simply told them that the town was a danger. That it could be a source of fanatics who were intent on freeing the last Cetera. They seemed to think that was enough to warrant doing something permanent about it. Oh... And Sephiroth, your performance last night was of particular concern for them. They really don't want you bothering me, obeying me, yes, but not bothering so I believe you will find that those troops won't obey you. Either of you."

    "Forget about them, Zack," Sephiroth ordered turning to follow Jenova as he caught a flicker of movement from the other man. "There is no one left to save and we can take care of the troops anytime. For now though we have to find out what's happened to Cloud and if there is any way of undoing that accursed merging."

    "You're right." Zack agreed sadly but he could see reality. "Just let me cast a spell first," he added pausing for a moment at the narrow rock pass that formed the doorway out of Nibelheim into the true wilderness of the mountains. _"Wall."_ There was a multi-coloured flash and several small pellets flew out from the rock face as the spell anchored itself. "That should hold them for a while. We don't want to play if we don't have to." The two of them turned and ran after the small form that was making its way quickly along the mountain path. Neither of them, with all their enhanced SOLDIER senses noticed a lithe shadow trailing them

    "... _Jenova_..." the shadow hissed in between faltering breaths. "...you'll pay... ...cloud..." the shadow spat blood. "...you'll pay... ...even if it costs me my life... ... you'll pay... ...jenova... ... _cloud_..."

To Be Continued...

 


	18. Crucible

The Other World   
By Jade Tatsu   
Chapter 17 - Crucible

    "What are you doing?" The question came from both Zack and Sephiroth as they skidded to a halt inside the inner chamber of the reactor.

    Jenova was already standing on the middle gantry of the tiered room, she paused slightly looking back at them as they entered. The room was lit in red but small round patches of blue, the portholes into the reactor proper gave off a softer illumination, giving the room dark shadows in between the blood red chambers. The two generals continued their pursuit but stepped more carefully now that they had sight of their target.

    "What does it look like I'm doing?" Jenova snapped at the question as she mounted the steps to the inner reactor. "This reactor is exactly what I need. It's time I kept my promise to the Cetera."

    "But they're dead!" Zack objected.

    Narrowed blue eyes looked down at Zack with a somewhat sardonic amusement. "Not in the Lifestream they aren't. You can't hear them?" Jenova began mounting the stairs again. "Besides, ShinRa couldn't seriously expect me to be their puppet forever and this particular reactor is perfect. The irony is just too much!" She laughed. "The Cetera swore I would never get the Planet but I will use one of them to take what is rightfully mine."

    Jenova looked into the central chamber running one hand lovingly over the glass. "My Planet," she whispered with Cloud's voice in a soft husky tone.

    "It's not yours."

    "But it is, my son. It is yours too." Jenova turned to face them. "ShinRa is no longer necessary. This Planet is no longer necessary, the stars are calling." She held out her hands, blue eyes hardening. "I am the Star Eater, and I hunger."

    "Jenova, if that's who you really are, where is Cloud?" Zack snarled the question, drawing his buster sword.

    "Cloud is dead." She answered Zack's question while dismissing him with her eyes, looking at her son. "Sephiroth, the stars are calling, they are crying. I was meant to be among them, with them, not stuck on this dust ball. The Cetera knew that, that's why they feared me. I am of the Universe, they were of the Planet and the two of us could not co-exist. I  must return to the Universe, my tasks are unfinished and this Planet is stopping me. The stars call, they need me and I will destroy this Planet to reach them."

    Sephiroth shivered hearing a voice so familiar speak in such a cold tone and see the familiar body held in such a posture. "You can't..." He began, not really sure what he was saying or even what he was trying to say.

    "I can and will my son."

    "No!" The voice was a scream and was accompanied by a shadow falling from the ceiling, a shadow trailing a battle flag of long hair.

    Jenova moved, although her movements seemed languid as she reached her hand to her shoulder, pulling the Masamune free of the strap that held it across her back and angling the great blade upward at her attacker.

    "Ugah!" The shadow screamed, arms and legs failing as cold steel ran through their body.

    Jenova braced herself, moving to hold the Masamune with both hands and spreading her legs to brace herself and the sudden dead weight she was supporting. With a growl of effort, she swept her sword down before her, flinging the body away.

    The shadow slammed hard against the reactor wall and then came to rest in a patch of red light. They clutched their belly with one hand but the other was raised feebly towards Jenova. _Tifa..._ Sephiroth's mind provided him with the name as he looked carefully at her.

    _"...no..."_ she croaked, her legs slipping on the floor as she struggled to push herself upright against the wall. _"...cloud..."_ She coughed blood but was too weak to wipe it away and it trailed down her chin, staining her shirt. _"...give them back..."_

    "Don't talk," Zack implored her as he reached her side, gently cupping her head and placing his other hand over her wound, assessing the damage. He looked up at Sephiroth but made no gesture. The sadness in his eyes said everything, but despite that a green glow shimmered between his fingers as he wove a cure spell. She might be doomed but he was still going to fight.

    "... _give them back... give me my father..."_ Tifa continued to struggle weakly. _"...murderer... cloud... give them..."_ As the curative spell took effect she fell unconscious, her eyes never moving from Jenova, and never softening from the glare of hatred she was directing at the form, not even with pain.

    Jenova looked down that the proceedings, meeting Tifa's gaze squarely with a look of cold superiority on her features. Sephiroth stood frozen on the middle gantry, looking back and forth between Jenova and Zack. He wanted to help Zack but the couldn't let Jenova, let Cloud get into the central chamber or else it would all be over.

    "Jenova..." he began, nearly choking on the word. It made it sound as if Cloud really was dead and he didn't believe that, would never believe that.

    She looked down at him, raising one of Cloud's eyes brows in what he would have once called an adorable display of curiosity. As it was, it was a gesture of cold calculation. "My son?"

    He gestured around him. "Is this really what you want? Think hard Jenova, you have been on this Planet for years, do you really want to destroy it?"

    She looked at him in confusion. "The stars are calling, can you not hear them? They call and I will answer them."

    Sephiroth snarled, shaking his head and giving himself a silver halo. "The stars are not calling," he rebuked. "They are _screaming_.  They do not want you. They know that what you are is wrong, that you should have died long ago and that we, in our ignorance have made a huge mistake. We should never have woken you, ShinRa shouldn't have opened that door. The stars are screaming, Jenova, they are screaming for your death."

    "Amusing," she stated, moving the Masamune into a guard position as Zack rejoined Sephiroth on the middle gantry. He had moved Tifa to the outer chamber where hopefully she would be safe from the battle that was to come.

    "I've done what I could for her," he said quietly to Sephiroth. "She might make it but it will be close." He looked up at where Jenova stood, wearing Cloud's body. "Now to get my apprentice back."

    "Amusing," Jenova repeated. "You think you have a chance against me? My son, if I must fight you for you to understand, then so be it."

    Both Zack and Sephiroth leapt in the same instant bringing their blades down on Jenova. She meet their attack, catching both swords with the Masamune and holding them there with a strength that seemed absurd for such a small body. With a savage upward swipe she threw their attack off, and jumped to land below them, balancing easily on the gantry railing.

    "Tsk!" she scolded them. "Neither of you put your heart into that attack. Human sentiment is so pathetic."

    "Jenova," Zack said in a deadly quiet voice as he began stalking towards her. "You are going to die. The body you wear is not your own and will reject you."

    "You can give Cloud back of your own accord, mother," Sephiroth joined the conversation, fervently hoping that Cloud could hear them and was fighting Jenova. "Or we will beat you until you cannot survive and then take Cloud."

    "Even assuming you could defeat me, killing me will just kill whatever remains of Cloud. But since he is already dead, you will achieve nothing."

    "Wake up Cloud," Zack called as they leapt to attack again.

    They meet in several more attacks but each time Jenova threw them off. They only succeeded in forcing her down to the reactor floor where, with the greater manoeuvrability she was forced to draw the combat knife that was strapped to her thigh to meet their attacks coming from both directions.

    "Nothing," she muttered as she countered their attacks. "This will achieve you nothing. Join me, my son," she invited when they locked into position, turning her attention to her son. "You can even keep your human pet."

    "Cloud," Sephiroth began, looking into familiar blue eyes. "This is a direct order from your General and I expect you to obey." He spoke the words clearly and with the air of authority that made him one of ShinRa's most feared troops, the perfect SOLDIER. "You are to immediately destroy the creature known as Jenova. Failure is not an option."

    An amused expression flashed across Jenova's face as she looked at him but after a moment she blinked her smile turning into a frown. Her eyes narrowed and as they drew back into ready positions her attention seemed turned inwards. After a few moments of silence, she looked up at her son, meeting his gaze with one of hatred. "An interesting ploy, my son. Trying to wake what remains of your lover, but it will not work. I told you, he lies dead within me, he could not contemplate the glory of the song."

    "I think it worked better than you want to admit, Jenova," Zack said with a smile. "The song of the stars is not something Cloud would be afraid of." He jumped forward, to cross swords with her again.

    They exchanged several blows before Zack leapt back to his original position, leaving Jenova trapped between him and Sephiroth. "You seem weakened, Jenova. Your host stronger than you thought, hmm?" He questioned with a confident smile. "Cloud, wake up. Feed this bitch the Song of the Stars until she can't take any more and then rip her apart and come back to... What?" Zack snarled, turning his head and stumbling slightly as an almost visible wave hit him.

    "An opening!" Jenova rejoiced and jumped.

    "NO!" Sephiroth jumped as well but he knew he would be too late.

    Zack turned back and began raising his sword to meet the attack but Sephiroth could see that he knew he wouldn't be in time. Jenova hissed in triumph as the Masamune hit home and with a shift of weight she twisted around and ripped her sword free of Zack's body as she jumped back, away from Sephiroth.

    The white haired man caught Zack as he fell. "Damn spell," he muttered. "You'll have company soon, Seph."

    "What..?"

    Both Zack and Sephiroth looked up sharply at the question. The voice that spoke was Cloud's, free of Jenova and his face was filled with concern.

    "What have... _NO!_ Get back!" Cloud's features twisted in a snarl as the two personalities struggled for control. "It's not possible," Jenova growled. "What ha...?" Cloud began before he fell silent, once again the struggle rendering him unable to speak.   
    
    "Cloud..." Sephiroth began but was over ridden by Zack.

    "Cloud, I know you can hear me. You have done nothing," Zack looked up at his friend with a smile, despite the blood that was seeping between his fingers. "Jenova did this but you can do something for me now, do the same to her. As I said before, feed her the Song of the Stars she is so fond of and then rip her apart. I know you can do it Cloud. You're going to have to stand beside Seph when ShinRa gets here."

    Jenova let out an anguished cry before Cloud blinked, once, twice, confused at what he was seeing. "Z... Zack..?" The question was weak but the voice was wholly Cloud's. "What have I done?"

    Zack coughed with what would have been a laugh as he looked into Cloud's clear blue eyes. "I always did have to repeat myself around you," he said. "I told you, you did nothing."

    Cloud shook his head, stepping backwards. "No..." His eyes were wide with horror at the evidence before him even though Zack was reassuring him. He'd done this. He'd run Zack through, no matter what his dread-locked friend was saying. Sephiroth was there too, supporting Zack but the silver haired general's head was bowed as he sought to tend the wounds of the other. "No..." Cloud said again, taking more steps back but he knew, no matter how many steps he took, he couldn't escape the truth. He shook his head again but he couldn't remove his eyes from the scene before him. "No..." he cried once again as he forced his eyes to look elsewhere and almost wished he hadn't.

    He knew where he was. The Mount Nibel reactor. But knowing where he was didn't dampen his horror. In his effort not to see Zack his eyes fell on the one other place he knew instinctively he didn't want to see. While the light was red and there were dark shadows on everything, he could make out a dark stain on one of the reactors central canisters. It was a stain in one of the relatively well lit areas of the reactor core and it was a stain that he knew he'd caused again. Blood. It was smeared against the canister but his eyes couldn't find a body. "I didn't..." He said in denial. It didn't matter who it was. It didn't matter that he couldn't see the body, he'd most likely killed someone else.

    "No..." he whispered once more as he fell to the ground.

    "You are right Cloud, you did nothing wrong. It was Jenova." Zack repeated the sentence forcefully as he watched Cloud's reaction, knowing the thoughts that were running through his friend's head.

    "Cloud." Sephiroth spoke finally. "It _was_ Jenova," he repeated Zacks reassurance.

    Cloud shook his head again, refusing to look up. "No, you don't understand," he whispered brokenly. The Masamune lay across his lap. He'd done these things, yes but he knew there was another influencing him. Jenova. He remembered everything, everything she had said, everything she had felt, even the Song of the Stars that was screaming for her death. He remembered and he could feel her. She was still there, still within him but for the moment she was silent, his grief was standing in her way.

    He'd merged with Jenova for Sephiroth, so that they could stand against ShinRa. He had what he wanted, the power to oppose ShinRa but this was not what he wanted. This was wrong. His body had become hers and her body had become his. Not even a reverse procedure could separate them now. They were eternal and inseparable. What she did, he did.

    "She's still here. She's still in me." He tried to explain to Sephiroth and Zack but he knew, no matter what words he used they wouldn't be enough. He knew what Sephiroth had ordered him to do and he knew what Zack had said but he couldn't do it. He could but she would not allow him to do that. Even now she was raging against the barriar his grief and anguish had made and he knew he couldn't hold her forever. The Star Eater had the strength of worlds, even if she didn't admit her time was over. That's what he could hear in the Song of the Stars. He could hear her death, he'd heard it from the moment he touched her. And that was his salvation. She didn't know. She didn't know she was tied to his potentially mortal flesh. And perhaps that was all he needed.

    He'd done these things. There was no way to undo them but he could pay for his sins. And Jenova, who used his body would pay as well. That was the only way. It would hurt and he didn't want to give that pain to Sephiroth but it was the only way.

    He giggled although it sounded like a gurgle. "She's still here," he repeated as he looked up tiredly, tapping his chest. "I can't... I can't get rid of her. Sephiroth, Zack... I'm sorry... I can't obey you." Blue eyes closed.

    "Cloud..." Sephiroth smiled at him. "It's okay. Just stay with me."

    " _That_ will not be possible." Jenova slowly opened her eyes as she looked up. They were hard and glittered viciously. Her expression changed too, back to one of superiority although the air of calmness, of the absolute assuredness she had about her power was gone.

    "It _will_ be possible," Zack said as he looked up at Sephiroth. "You have to fight her, Seph. Leave me, you have to fight her. I'll be fine," he added as Jenova rose, and held the Masamune before her. He murmured a few words and a pale green glow flickered around his fingers. "Cloud's there, you just have to bring him home."

    Sephiroth nodded before he rose and stepped in front of Zack. "You didn't sound so sure, Jenova," he baited her. "I guess you are beginning to realise what I have always known: Cloud isn't one to take lightly. Even if he can't get rid of you, he can hold you so that I can get rid of you. And that will be enough."

    Inside his body Cloud shook his head and he would have cried. Sephiroth didn't understand what it would take to get rid of Jenova. He could hold her as Sephiroth suggested but when the blow came it would take them both. _I don't want to do this..._ he screamed but he knew it was the only way. He didn't want to give that pain to Sephiroth but there was no other way. He couldn't be free of Jenova but the world _had_ to be freed of her. It was the only way. _Sephiroth... Sephi... roth..._ Even his thought's broke on the name that meant so much to him. _Forgive me._

    "Shall we begin?" Sephiroth asked when Jenova was silent, holding the Apocalypse sword before him. It's materia glittered dully as he sent a burst of power into them.

    Jenova smiled wanly. "Yes, I think we should, my son. It's time I showed you my power."

    With defiant screams they clashed.

    It was not an even battle. After the first few passes that become clear. It was close but it was not even. Jenova's responses were slow, she saw Sephiroth's attacks but there was always a slight hesitation before she moved in defence. The white haired man said nothing about it, he just continued to push her back, forcing her out of the inner reactor and away from Zack. When they reached the ante chamber he mounted a particularly fierce attack, forcing Jenova to retreat through the room quickly and providing her with no opportunity to use Tifa as a shield.

    "A little bit more, Cloud," he murmured. He didn't usually talk this much in combat. He knew the value of distracting your opponent with words but it wasn't a tactic he used. Silent contemplation and a lightning swift attack were his preferred methods but he spoke now for Cloud, to let him know that he was waiting and that he would wait, for however long it took to get rid of Jenova. He would always be there for Cloud. No matter what.

    _Yes, just a little bit more._ Cloud agreed silently, even as he forced Jenova's arms to slow. He'd done nothing more than interfere with her reaction time. What he had planned had to be a surprise to her or she would regain her balance and the opportunity would be lost forever because he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out against her attack. _Just a little bit more, Sephiroth. Drive her back just a little bit more._

    "I'm not going to let you do it, Jenova," Sephiroth said with a cold smile as they approached the pipeline gantry. "And I will free Cloud," he added as Jenova tried to avoid being forced on to the narrow walkway. While it was the only way out of the reactor, waves of heat shimmered around it from the open mako pit beneath it.

    "No matter how far you retreat Jenova, I am not going to let you escape. Just give up and give Cloud back to me."

    "You have much to learn, my son. You beau might be hindering my movements but he won't be able to forever. I know more ways to attack the mind than he does. I will destroy him soon."

    Cloud grimaced at her words. They were the truth except he would destroy her first. The knowledge brought him a cold knot of satisfaction. _Sephiroth, please understand... Forgive me,_ he pleaded, as he measured how much further Sephiroth had to push before nothing could save her. Two more steps. Two more steps before Jenova wouldn't be able to save herself.

    Sephiroth swept his sword through a horizontal arc. One step. Jenova feinted but was blocked before swinging the Apocalypse Blade at Jenova's shoulder. No steps. Cloud smiled grimly and struck. It was just a little thing but it would be enough.

    Sephiroth saw it as he thrust forward. He saw it and his green eyes opened wide with horror as he realised Cloud's plan. Jenova felt it as she dodged but despite the knowledge she couldn't help snapping blue eyes towards the ground to confirm what she already knew.

    "No!" The scream of denial was ripped from two throats before an almost serene silence fell upon the reactor.

    Sephiroth stepped back. There was nothing he could do, he could only watch. Jenova didn't struggle. She couldn't, he saw that immediately because looking out through wide blue eyes was Cloud. Slowly, it happened so slowly but in reality it was blindingly fast. One misstep, Cloud had caused her one misstep and now they would both fall into the mako below.

    "He smiled." Sephiroth choked on the word as a single tear fell from his emerald eyes. "He looked up at me and smiled. I can still see it now. I _killed_ him but he _smiled_ at me. It would have been better to hear Jenova's curse. When he smiled at me he thanked me but he was saying he was sorry as well. I could see the sadness there. He didn't... He didn't want to make me do that but he knew it was the only way. I guess now I know it was the only way as well. But somewhere I wish he tripped us both into the reactor..."

    _"Don't_ ever _say that again!"_ Cloud's voice was harsh and even though he was holding Sephiroth he trembled with emotion. "Don't. He didn't want to give you that pain but don't make it worse than it is. Do you really think it would have been better if you both died? Who would have stood against Jenova when she returned? He didn't want to do it to you but it was the only way. Even you know that."

    "I know..." Sephiroth whispered. "But I would have given almost anything at the time for that to be true. I still remember his smile and I can still remember his words. He smiled at me when he lost his balance - thank you and I'm sorry - and as he fell 'I love you.'"

    The white haired man paused but history was nearly told out so he had to continue. "He said nothing apart from that, didn't say a thing even as he hit the mako. After that... After that, I don't really know what happened. I don't _remember_ it but I know Zangan must have passed by me because he took Tifa to safety. That actually was the only thing that saved her. And then there were troops. I can vaguely recall them entering the reactor but the next thing I truly remember is waking up in Midgar.

    "Hojo was there. So was Shinra, and Rufus too. I thought that was unusual but they were there to find out what happened to their General so I guess it was natural. I didn't even have to lie to them. I just told them the truth, that Cloud had woken within Jenova. That's all I said and they made up the rest themselves. I think Cloud waking up within Jenova was about the only thing they had foreseen could go wrong with their plan of mergence. Hojo said something about it being unlikely but possible and without any other explanation they accepted that as the truth.

    "I remained in ShinRa. I didn't have a choice about that. After the failure of their experiment the scientists were on thin ice. The only thing that saved them was the 'controller' they placed in me. It ensured that I had to be loyal to ShinRa. After all, they could hardly afford to lose all three of their Generals so soon after the Wutai War. The only thing I know about the controller was that it was a piece of Jenova and it hurt like hell if I tried to disobey. It was very effective and ensured that I 'belonged' to ShinRa as they put it.

    "And after that, it was five years before I saw Cloud again but this time there was only Jenova. The first thing she did was cut out the controller. She hadn't come to kill me, it was more along the lines of torturing me. She killed Shinra and then I joined up with Tifa and Avalanche..." Sephiroth sighed, tilting his head back and looking up at Cloud. "After that... after that, well, that should be roughly the same as your universe..."

    Cloud nodded bowing his head slightly placing a kiss on Sephiroth's lips. _That's what happened,_ he thought as the final memories came to him. His five years of torture were for Sephiroth five years of serving ShinRa. Everything was alike, not quite the same but similar. Similar pains, similar joys, similar hopes. '...roughly the same as your universe...' "Probably," he said drawing back slightly before he kissed Sephiroth again. The past had been told it was time now to build a new future. He ran his tongue along Sephiroth's lips, his intentions clear. The white haired man didn't open his mouth but Cloud felt him smile before he broke their kiss and turned himself around to face Cloud.

    With a grin that showed his canines he pushed Cloud backwards using his greater mass to hold him pinned. "My Cloud," he whispered before he initiated a kiss but this time he was demanding entry to Cloud's mouth.

    "Yours," Cloud agreed when they both drew back for breath.

    "Only mine," Sephiroth said, again taking Cloud's lips, determined, this time, never to let his lover go. _Mine_.

To Be Continued...

 


	19. Reality

The Other World  
By Jade Tatsu  
Epilogue - Reality

    Cloud started awake before the memory of where he was and what had happened filled him. He closed glowing blue eyes happily, feeling the warmth of the other beside him. Sephiroth - and last night the two of them had...

    Blue eyes snapped open again in stark contrast to the rosey tone that was now Cloud's skin. Had he..? Had he really..? _Oh no..._ Cloud thought with faint dispair. _Please tell me I didn't..._

    But all his memories, shaded as they were by the warmth of his love were telling him otherwise. Cloud groaned, what he could remember wasn't what he wanted, wasn't what he had planned...

    "Shh..." the soft whisper intruded upon his growing concern. "It's all right." Sleepy green eyes opened and Sephiroth's grip on Cloud became stronger. Sephiroth blinked once or twice clearing the fuzziness from his gaze as he looked down fondly at blond spikes.

    "It's not... I didn't mean to..."

    "It's all right," Sephiroth repeated with a smile. "It's really better if we are both fully awake for that. Consider last night merely the beginning of what is to come."

    If anything Cloud blushed stronger. "But I shouldn't have fallen asleep after everything."

    This time Sephiroth did laugh, shaking gently in amusement. He lowered his head to the soft spikes that were Cloud's hair and spoke into them, muzzling against his lovers hair. "It's all right," he repeated again. "Your intentions were clear and I'm sure you will make good on them today. Besides," he added stretching slightly, working out some of the kinks from his body. "We were both tired and if you hadn't of fallen asleep I probably would have."

    Cloud turned in Sephiroth's arms, returned the embrace. "Definitely make good..." he purred as he tilted his head, stealing a kiss.

    The white-haired man smiled as he returned the kiss. As they drew back slightly he whispered the word, "Forever," before this time he moved to kiss Cloud.

    ::Forever..?:: Cloud questioned mentally, unwilling to break his union with Sephiroth to ask but still curious.

    Cloud felt a mental flash of amusement and happiness before Sephiroth replied, ::I will have you forever.:: "I've never been known for my ability to share," Sephiroth whispered, drawing back. "You are _mine._ This life and beyond. I will have you forever."

    A soft smile creased Cloud's lips at the words. He wasn't meekly submitting to Sephiroth because he knew that while the white haired man would own him, his body, his soul, he would own Sephiroth and he was equally unwilling to share, except... "What of Cloud?"

    Sephiroth's eyes darkened slightly at the thought of his previous identical lover. "Cloud is Cloud," he responded. "I admit you are slightly different but you are still Cloud and you are still mine. Besides," a thin smile crossed his features. "What of your Sephiroth?"

    "My Sephiroth?" Cloud questioned. "He's right here." Cloud snuggled closer to Sephiroth, muzzling into the bigger man's chest, hearing his heartbeat. He closed his eyes, tickling his hair into the small of Sephiroth's throat, enjoying the catch in the breathing of the other. "Don't worry Sephiroth," Cloud whispered, his voice relaxed and warm. "This is what he wanted for us."

    "Oh, and how do you know that?" Sephiroth questioned, running his hands down Cloud's back pressing against what he knew were his partners most sensitive nerves.

    Cloud shivered in anticipation reaching out to caress Sephiroth in the manner he remembered the other man found pleasureable even if he had never touched Sephiroth in this way. _More interesting than mere memories, indeed!_ He only hoped he could control his own desires long enough to give that pleasure to Sephiroth. Unlike his previous self, he had little experience in this area.

    "It's all right, Cloud," Sephiroth whispered, sensing his reticence. The white haired man muzzled his way through blond spikes before gently nibbling on one ear lobe. He bit harder and tugged, causing slight pain but Cloud moaned in pleasure. "You are incapable of displeasing me," the last was said with an almost gasping note of pleasure as Cloud reached around the other man, squeezing Sephiroth's firm buttocks, after brushing away stray strands of hair. Sephiroth retalitated by running his tongue along Clouds jaw before taking his lips.

    "Hmm," Cloud sighed into the kiss closing his eyes as he felt his body go limp.

    Beep... Beep, beep, beep... Beep... Beep, beep, beep... Beep...

    Two sets of eyes snapped open, blue meeting green for an instant before Sephiroth groaned in frustration, reluctantly pulling back from Cloud and reaching out to grab his PHS.

    "What is it?" he snarled, not bothering to soften the anger and frustration in his voice. Things had just been getting interesting.

    Cloud looked on in silence. He breathed deeply, feeling a glow of pleasure throughout his body but he wasn't idle in the time Sephiroth was occupied. Whatever the message was, it had interrupted but it wasn't going to stop their morning activities. All he had to do was decide upon the best course of action to continue with but he kept getting distracted by the fall of silver hair and the soft murmurings of Sephiroth's voice as he spoke to the person who had called him. Sephiroth's choice of clothes, namely black boxers, did little to hide the ripple of his firm muscles beneath his skin as he paced back and forth and only further added to Cloud's state of distraction.

    "NO!" Sephiroth finally shouted into the small device breaking the relative silence that had reigned for the last several moments. Cloud winced, certain that whoever was on the other end didn't need the PHS to hear Sephiroth. _"It is not okay!"_ The white haired man added as he cut off the call.

    Cloud looked at Sephiroth, his eyes clouding with worry as the larger man sat back on the bed, turning the small mechanical device off as he placed it on the small bedside table. "Is everything okay?" He asked, imagining the myriad of things that could possibly have happened since they had left Midgar.

    Sephiroth rested his head in his hands, scrunching his fingers through his hair. He laughed mockingly as Cloud sat up and moved behind Sephiroth, resting his head on the white haired man's shoulder, pressing himself firmly against the other man to let him know he was there. "When I told them to deal with Reeve, I _knew_ I should have put restrictions on them. I didn't think they'd do this!"

    Cloud tilted his head quizically, blowing gently on the loose strands of silver hair. "What do you mean?"

    "It's my own fault really. I shouldn't have been so efficient when I worked for ShinRa. Avalanche and the Turks dealt with Reeve. The man has agreed to retire into obsurity with a very fat pension but that does leave a vaccum at the top."

    "Can't Scarlet or one of the other Board Members take over?"

    Sephiroth snorted. "Not in a million years," he said tiredly, his response in no way deriding Cloud's question. "They all made too many enemies and couldn't do the job. They'd spend too much time lording it over the others. Reeve was the only one who could take over from Rufus. He had the expertise and he lacked most of the arrogance. Well," Sephiroth paused. "Reeve or one other could have done it."

    "One other?" The question carried a note of wariness.

    "Okay, two but you were thought to be dead."

    "No..." Cloud whispered in disbelief. "They didn't..?" He barely gasped the question as the reason for Sephiroth's earlier anger became clear.

    "They did," the larger man groaned shaking his head.

    "Heh... Heheheh... Hahahahahahah!" Cloud rolled back his head laughing.

    "Stop that," Sephiroth snapped irratably. "It's not funny."

    "But it is," Cloud disagreed continuing to shake in mirth.

    "It's not because they didn't finish there."

    Cloud sobbered in an instant, a cold dread gripping his heart. "...they didn't stop there..?" He barely whispered the words as Sephiroth turned towards him, a sardonic smile of amusement now gracing his lips.

    "They didn't," he confirmed, looking directly into blue eyes. "They weren't letting you out of their sight, Jenova," as he said the name he stroked Cloud's face. "My Cloud, my dear General Cloud Strife."

    "No..." Cloud whispered before a new realisation dawned upon him. "But I've..."

    "You've?"

    "I've never been a General," Cloud finished in a rush.

    Sephiroth blinked. He felt his features schooling themselves into his calm 'in control' mask and blinked again. "You've never been a General?" He managed to get the words out an instant before the laughter spilled out of him.

    "It's not funny!" Cloud pouted.

    "It is," Sephiroth rebuked him. "It's as funny as me being the President."

    "Humph!"

    "I wouldn't worry. There's really nothing to it," Sephiroth began. "You just sign a heap of papers all day," he continued elaborating on the duties of a General. "In peace time the Army runs itself. It's boring." Sephiroth didn't even notice the change in Cloud until the blond man turned around and pounced.

    "Wah!" Sephiroth cried out as he was expertly manoeuvred to fall on the bed, pinned down by a smaller body.

    "Enough talk," Cloud growled. "It doesn't matter. You can tell me the duties of a General later because I know Avalanche, I'm sure they gave you a schedule..?"

    Cloud let the sentence hover and was rewarded when Sephiroth nodded, rolling his eyes.

    "Well then," the blond whispered. "While we have privacy..."

    The white haired man raised an eye brow at the deliciously direct tact Cloud was taking.

    "I've never slept with a President," Cloud finished, looking into glowing green eyes, not bothering to hide his desire.

    Sephiroth blinked before he grinned. "Well, I've never slept with a General before," he said, wrapping his arms around the smaller body and rolling so that he was the one looking down.

    "I can fix that," the words came from two sets of lips and instant before they meet in a passionate kiss.

===

    Strong arms held him close to the gentle warmth emanating from the other man. Soft green eyes looked down at him, the violence, and the power he knew they contained absent from their mako glow. Instead they contained a burning love and the promise of peace and protection, of an end to his worries in those arms. Cloud rested his head on the muscled chest and listened to the strong heartbeat. There was no need for words. He was safe, he was cherished and he cherished the one who held him close, beloved forever.

    He nodded to himself. Yes, this was where he was meant to be. This was where he was always meant to be. Nuzzling gently into the warm embrace blue eyes closed lazily as he relaxed, feeling sleep take him again.

    It had started with dreams but this was _reality._

 


End file.
